Tangled 2: Shattered dreams
by MyLittleWorld15
Summary: Eugene and Rapunzel are living their happily ever after. Until the Stabbington brothers escape from prison. They are out for revenge and to get it, they kidnap Eugene and Rapunzel. The bad situation gets even worse when Eugene suffers an amnesia...
1. Prologue

Hey! This is my first English story. I'm German, just to let you know. So, if there are any big mistakes, tell me.

**Disclaimer**: _Tangled_ belongs to Disney. The story of this fanfiction belongs to ToothlessMI. She made a gorgeous trailer for a second _Tangled_ movie and I just HAD to ask for permission to write it as a fanfiction. You find the link for the trailer in my profile. Have fun with reading!

_Prologue_

Once upon a time, there was a peaceful, joyous Kingdom, and in this kingdom a princess was born with beautiful golden hair. But this was no ordinary hair. No, her hair had the power to heal the sick and injured. It also could make the old ones young again.

The kingdom celebrated the birth of their princess, but the peace only lasted a short time. Soon after her birth, the little princess was kidnapped by a selfish old witch who locked her in a tower deep in the forest and raised her as her own child.

Eighteen years she remained there, completely unaware of her royal origins and her real family, until a thief found her tower. Together, they experienced an adventure that most people could not even imagine in their wildest dreams. Although the thief just wanted to get rid of her in the beginning, they learned a lot about each other and themselves on this journey and after a while, they became a great team. When they reached the city, they had fallen head over heels for each other. But this happiness was short-lived. The thief was framed so that he landed in prison, and the princess, who thought he had left her, returned to her tower.

There, she realized who she really was. But the old witch, of whom she thought was her mother, refused to let her go. When the thief came to rescue his girl, the witch stabbed him and wounded him mortally. The princess pleaded with the witch to be allowed to heal the thief in exchange for her freedom. But the thief loved her too much to let her pay such a high price, and cut her hair. That destroyed the magic of the flower and the witch, who had been kept alive for centuries by the magic of the flower that had given the hair of the princess its power, died. But the thief, whose wound could not be healed now, shared her fate. The princess cried bitter tears. But one of her tears, filled with the lost magic, landed on his cheek and revived him.

Together, the two went back to the kingdom and met the king and the queen, who were overjoyed to have their princess back and to be able to take her in their arms again. The thief was cleared by his actions and was allowed to stay.

Time passed, and the former thief and the princess lived a wonderful, peaceful live in the palace. But that won't remain so, because old enemies seek for the life of the thief and the liberty of the princess.

Both have to give everything to survive this adventure. And a much bigger problem that hits them personally just waits for them. Their enemies threatened their lives; the other problem threatened their love. Both had to be rescued to guarantee them a peaceful, long life together. Will this story have that famous happy end?


	2. Asking her

Rapunzel was in her room in front of the mirror, looking critically at her reflection. With a brush, she gently stroked over her short, brown streaks. Her hair still looked exactly the same way it did the day Eugene had cut it. As she thought of him, she smiled.

They knew each other for exactly one year now, and since they'd met, many things had turned to the better. She finally lived the life that she could now have the rest of her life.

She did not need the riches that lay in Coronas treasury, the servants, or all the pretty clothes. The life she led here was very pleasant, despite of the many lessons in all sorts of things like manners, dancing, history and all this, but she didn't need it. No, now she had something even more important: a real family.

Her mother and her father where, in addition to Eugene, the most important people in her life. Her parents supported her in everything she did, and she loved spending time with them and getting to know them better. And Eugene…well, he was her dream she was his. They belonged together; you could not express it otherwise. To make her completely happy, he only needed to ask her that one question.

A knock on the door made her wake up from her thoughts. She turned her head and replied, "Come in."

The door opened and the former thief of whom she was just thinking about stepped into the room. Like her, he had barely changed during the past year. He still had the same dark brown hair and those hazel eyes which looked at her lovingly in this moment. But one thing basically changed: he wasn't a thief anymore. His times as a criminal were gone, and Rapunzel was hundred percent sure that he would not backslide. Otherwise, he would have to deal with her and her frying pan.

Eugene closed the door behind him and crossed the room with a few steps, a loving, warm smile on his lips. "Good morning, princess, he said cheerfully.

"Good morning," Rapunzel replied and walked the last two steps towards him. She had a wide smile on her face as she got up on tiptoes to kiss him. Despite of her hated shoes he was still a lot bigger than she was.

"What are you doing here that early?" Rapunzel asked curiously after she pulled away from him.

Usually, Eugene was in his training with the palace guards or learning in the library or in his lessons at this time in the morning. That was a condition of her father if Eugene was planning to marry Rapunzel someday; he had to learn about politics, history and everything a prince consort should know. And Rapunzel would never even consider marrying someone other than Eugene, so everyone was convinced that they would marry one day.

Eugene grinned his signature grin. This was one of his habits of his life as Flynn Rider. "Oh, I just thought, I'll take a break to see my favorite girl. You'll spend the whole day with your parents, I wanted to see you in the morning at least ," he said.

Eugene was right; she would spend the whole day with her parents. Because today was her birthday, she was nineteen now, and they had missed so many of her birthdays. So they wanted to celebrate this one alone, just their daughter and them.

"And get a few kisses?" Rapunzel joked.

"Maybe," grinned Eugene as he pulled her close for another kiss.

Rapunzel put her arms around his neck, enjoying the feeling of his lips on hers. But their kiss was interrupted after only a short time by a knock on the door. Slightly annoyed inwardly, but friendly on the outside, the princess went to the door and opened it. Outside in the corridor was one of the servants.

"Excuse the disturbance your highness, but your parents want to see you," announced the servant.

Rapunzel nodded with a friendly smile. "Tell them I'll be there in a few minutes" she replied, and waited until the servant was gone before she closed the door and went back to Eugene

He expected a kiss, but Rapunzel evaded and ran over to the mirror to check her hair again. Quickly she brushed the chocolate-brown streaks, but her hair didn't seem to lay like she wanted it to. The princess let out a frustrated sigh.

"What's wrong?" Eugene asked as he stepped behind her. Rapunzel didn't turn around, but she could see his reflection in the mirror.

"My hair," she sighed again. Eugene grinned slightly.

"Blondie, you ALWAYS look good. How many times have I told you that already?" He took her wrist, so she kept still and took the brush from her hand. These he put on a small, nearby chest of drawers and wrapped his arms around Rapunzels waist from behind. She smiled and leaned against him.

"No idea. I like hearing it," Rapunzel chuckled. After a moment of silence, she added, "Thank you, Eugene."

He set a soft kiss on her hair. "You're welcome" he whispered. His voice was muffled by the brown streaks, but Rapunzel could understand him anyway.

She turned in his arms and looked in his eyes. Eugene did the same and felt like he lost himself in her emerald green eyes. "I love you," Rapunzel murmured.

"And I love you," Eugene replied and smiled happily. Then he bent his head down to give her another kiss.  
>The world around the two seemed to stand still during that kiss, but only until there was another knock at the door. Rapunzel pulled away from her boyfriend and sighed.<p>

"I'm sorry, Eugene, I have to go" she apologized. Of course, she was looking forward to spend the day with her parents, but she also regretted not being able to see Eugene the whole day. Because the many lessons that they had, those cherished moments spent with each other were becoming pretty rare.

"All right," replied Eugene and watched as Rapunzel went. When she was almost at the door, he called her name again. She turned around and looked at him expectantly.

He smiled warmly. "I've asked your parents for permission to watch the lights with you tonight. They said yes. So, what do you say?"

Rapunzel beamed. "Yes, of course," she replied, nodding enthusiastically. Eugene's smile grew wider.

"Okay, so we'll meet this evening in the entrance hall," he suggested. Rapunzel agreed and then walked out of the room, beaming. Watching the lanterns rising in the sky again tonight sounded heavenly.

Eugene was full of anticipation, too, but he was also a little nervous. He fervently hoped that tonight would work as he imagined it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rapunzel really enjoyed the day, but for Eugene, it was horrible long. What he was going to do in the evening, he had never done before, not thought about it before he had met Rapunzel. He was going to ask her. To ask her if she wanted to be his wife. The closer the evening, the more nervous he was, but at the same time he could not expect to have it behind him. Eventually, the evening came, and Eugene waited impatiently in the entrance hall of the palace. He reached again into his pocket and felt for a small velvet box. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was ready. The Flynn Rider part of him could barely hold back his laughter right now, but Eugene Fitzherbert did not care.

"Eugene?" Rapunzel's melodic voice made him return to reality. His eyes flew open and he whirled around to the grand staircase. Rapunzel stepped down the right know and if Eugene could say one thing, then that he had never seen someone who looked more elegant doing this while barefoot with an ankle-length dress. She was wearing a similar dress like she had worn when she saw the lanterns for the first time. And she looked absolutely adorable.

"Hello Rapunzel. How was your day?" he asked simply. He couldn't think of another question right now. Rapunzel descended the last few steps, crossed the hall, and went to him. She smiled. "It was wonderful. I just missed you. And what did you do all day? "Her voice sounded curious.

"Oh, you know me. Flirt with the maids, tease the guards ... "He made a casual wave of his hand and grinned.

Rapunzel laughed softly, she knew that he was only joking. But then hen she said, "Seriously, please."

Eugene chuckled and replied, "I was in the library and trained with Max, that's all" He took her hand and began to lead her towards the big double doors. Rapunzel followed him willingly. But as he headed toward the gate in the palace courtyard, she frowned.

"Where are we going?" she asked. Eugene smiled mysteriously and shook his head. But Rapunzel trusted him more than everybody else in the world, so she decided just to rely on him. As he led her into the harbor and to a small dock, she caught her breath. With shining eyes she asked, "You got us a boat?"

Eugene smiled at her obvious joy and nodded. Rapunzel was more than happy. She threw her arms around his neck and gave him an effusive kiss. When they had broken away from each other, she said, beaming, "Thanks, Eugene. You're so sweet! Thank you!"

Eugene grimaced. "Sweet?" he repeated, slightly indignant. He had turned his back to the past, but a very small, tiny part of Flynn Rider was still in him. Forgetting ten years of cheating, lying, uninhibited flirting, and above all, stealing, wasn't that easy, even if he had changed. And Flynn Rider hated the word _sweet_.

Rapunzel smiled in a cute way. "Yes, sweet. Brings nothing to discuss, I will not take back the word." She crossed her arms and tilted her head like she always did when she felt superior.

But Eugene had no wish to argue with her. This would be more deconstructive to his plan. He shook his head slightly as he carefully stepped into the little boat. It was similar to the gondola in which they had watched the lights a year ago. Then he stretched out his hand to help Rapunzel into the boat and smiled at her. She took the offered hand and then sat down. Eugene sat down on the seat behind her and grabbed the rudder, bringing them into the middle of the lake.

And then they had to wait again. Rapunzel slid over to Eugene and leaned against his shoulder. He closed his eyes and put his arm around her. Then he suddenly remembered something. "Where is Pascal?" He had been so busy with himself that he had not noticed the absence of the small reptile. In the past year he Pascal had became something like buddies, just as he and Max had.

Rapunzel giggled. "He was sleeping when I went. I didn't want to wake him. "Eugene nodded and grinned a little.

Luckily, it wasn't long until the first lantern rise into heaven. Of course it was the one that Rapunzel's parents had just released from the balcony of the palace. Rapunzel looked at the lantern, all others that followed, with shining eyes.

"Oh Eugene, look! Isn't that beautiful?" The lights of all the lanterns that surrounded them were reflected in her large green eyes.

"Yes, it is," agreed Eugene, but he didn't just mean the stunning sight of all the lanterns in the sky that seemed to be doubled by its reflection in the water. Rapunzel had parted from him and stared at the environment with her back to him. He took another deep breath in and out. Now it was time.

A clearing of the throat from Eugene led Rapunzel to turn around to him. When she saw him, she was tempted to hold her breath. He dropped to one knee and looked at her with his hazel eyes, which reflected the soft light.

"Rapunzel?" he asked. His voice sounded calm, but inside he was trembling with excitement.

"Yes?" She whispered breathlessly. She guessed what he wanted to tell her now.

"I know, we know each other just for one year now. And I know that I really do not deserve it as a thief, to ask a princess like you something like that. But I love you more than anything else in the world and want to spend the rest of my life with you." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he opened his eyes again, he reached into his pocket and took out a small, velvet-covered box. He opened it and asked the one question.

"Rapunzel, will you marry me?"

Rapunzel stared at him speechless. Then her eyes slid to the ring. It was made of fine, narrow gold that shone slightly in that light. Side by side, three precious stones were arranged in it. In the middle was an oval emerald and on both of its sides was one elongated, narrow diamond. It was just beautiful.

Rapunzel looked back at Eugene, who still looked expectantly at her. She had a lump in her throat from emotion. She had so often imagined what it would be like when he would propose to her. But now, at this moment that he really did it, she felt a joy that she could barely put into words. Tears of happiness welled up in her eyes. "Of course I'll marry you!" she cried, as she could speak again, and threw her arms around his neck.

"Really? You will? Unbelievable!" exclaimed Eugene and hugged Rapunzel tighter.

After a short time, Rapunzel pulled away from him, only to grab his collar and pull him closer to press her lips on his. He returned the gesture and the two shared a long, tender, happy kiss. Around them, the lanterns floated quietly through the dark and made the scenery bright and very romantic.

XXXXXXXXXXX

A few miles in a straight linear distance, in the prison of Corona, it wasn't bright and romantic at all. In fact, it was completely different. Something terrible should happen inside these walls.

It was time. Today was the day. All the people in the neighbored cells knew it as they saw how the captain of the guard headed towards the cell of the two brothers, along with several of his men. The dark-haired, uniformed man opened the door and looked at the two redheaded, gorilla-like brothers with a serious face. They stared back blankly.

The captain gave his men a sign to put the handcuffs on the brothers and then to maneuver them out of the cell to begin the final journey. Each of the two criminals was led by three men.

They went a few yards through the stone corridor. And then their plan came into force. But differently than Eugene, who had usually solved his problems with intelligence and charm, not to mention his good looks, the Stabbington brothers solved their problems with sheer muscle power. For the guards,it wasn't a happy moment. They were thrown against the wall, kicked, knocked out with head-butts. As the captain fell to the ground unconscious, too, the two brothers each grabbed a sword, cut through the chains of her handcuffs with the blade and ran to the door.

Not many guards were there, most were busy with the festival and the lanterns. The two fleeting brothers easily got out to the yard to break the gates and disappear into the night by using their new weapons. In their minds was only room for one thought: they wanted revenge against Flynn Rider.

**Do you like it? Please review! Oh, and you find a link to the picture of the ring on my profile page. Goodbye, or, like we say it in German: Auf Wiedersehen! **


	3. Memories

**Finally I finished the second chapter. And I can tell you, it was hard work, especially the translation. But I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: The plot belongs to ToothlessMI. Tangled belongs to Disney. Just the fanfiction is mine.**

_Memories_

The next morning, Rapunzel awoke with a blissful smile. She couldn't believe that she was really engaged. _Engaged! With Eugene! _But when she sat up and raised her hand, she saw the golden ring, shining in the morning sunlight. And then she knew it wasn't only a beautiful dream. Eugene actually proposed to her last night.

Suddenly, Rapunzel began to laugh happy. With one jump she was out of her bed and swirled crisscross around the entire room. Pascal, who had his own little part of the room, woke up and quizzically cocked his head. Rapunzel took the chameleon, looked at it, beaming, and danced with him around the room. "We will marry! Pascal, he asked me to marry him! Can you believe it?" she laughed. She felt like singing and hugging the whole world.

The chameleon didn't understand what was going on. After finishing dancing around, Rapunzel let herself fall on the bed, breathing hard, but still smiling. Pascal crawled on her lap and looked at her more questioning than before. He let out a squeak that meant something like: "What's going on? Why are you so exited?"

Still smiling broadly, Rapunzel showed him the hand with the ring. Pascal looked at the ring and touched it gently with his front paw. His brown eyes widened slightly. Open-mounded he looked up at Rapunzel, who just nodded.

Pascal didn't know how to react at first, but eventually decided to be happy for Rapunzel and Eugene and changed into a yellow color, which meant for him that he was in a merry mood. In addition, he grinned broadly. Rapunzel giggled a little. "Thanks."

Then, she changed her nightgown into her favorite pink dress which she got after she returned one year ago, and made herself ready in the bathroom. In a good mood, she left her room with Pascal on her shoulder to go to the dining room for breakfast. Half way she met Eugene, who had his room in another corridor of the palace.

"Eugene," she squealed as she spotted him from afar. She ran all the way to him and threw her arms around his neck. Eugene was almost overthrown by her "attack", but managed, just in time, to regain his balance. He chuckled, slightly amused.

"Good morning to you too, Blondie." He hugged her briefly before they moved apart and looked at one another. Eugene was infected by Rapunzels beaming smile and he smiled back. Well, he had been smiling before, too, but now he smiled even wider. He had every reason to be happy. After all, the girl of his dreams had answered the question of all questions with "Yes" just a few hours ago. She took his hand in his. He looked at it and saw that she wore the ring. This sight made him even happier.

"When I woke up this morning, I first thought I just dreamed everything. But then I saw the ring and it reminded me that it wasn't just a beautiful dream and that you really proposed to me," Rapunzel said and looked into his hazel eyes. Eugene nodded in agreement and looked back.

"And I remembered that you actually said yes," he added. Rapunzel let go of his hand, linked arms with him, and pulled him forward gently. Together they walked down the hallway. Rapunzel looked up at her fiancé. As she thought of this word in connection with him, she had to smile.

"Where did you get idea that I could say no?" She asked with tilted head. Eugene laughed a little and looked at her with twinkling eyes.

"Have you any idea how nervous most men are when they propose to her girlfriend? At least if their girlfriend means something to them," he said. Several friends of his had told him how nervous they had been when they proposed to their wives. He could understand them now very well.

Pascal suddenly jumped from Rapunzels shoulder to Eugenes. The chameleon looked at him seriously. Eugene's eyes wandered from Pascal to Rapunzel. "What does he want?" he asked gently. Pascal first pointed with his paw to his eyes and then to Eugene. "I think that means that he will watch you," Rapunzel grinned. Eugene sighed and shrugged. "If that's everything he cares about."

Rapunzel was more cheerful than usual, and that meant something. She almost hopped at Eugenes side on their way to the dining room. As they entered the large, bright room, King Peter and his wife, Queen Susan, sat already at the long table. When the door opened and the newly engaged couple went in, they looked up.

"Eugene, Rapunzel, good morning" Queen Susan smiled. King Peter also wished them a good morning. While Eugene respectful bowed, Rapunzel just beamed at her parents. Then the couple sat down next to each other at the other side of the table.

"Is there a special reason you beam that way?" King Peter wanted to know and smiled softly at his daughter. He already knew the reason of her happiness, but he wanted to give her the opportunity to tell it herself. Queen Susan noticed the knowing look in the blue eyes of her husband and raised an eyebrow. But she nodded; she noticed the happiness of her daughter, too.

Rapunzel looked at Eugene. He squeezed her hand reassuringly and smiled at her encouragingly. Barely noticeable, he nodded as a sign that she could tell their parents the great news if she wanted to. The princess took a deep breath and looked at her parents with a nervous smile.

"Eugene asked me a question last night, and I said yes" Rapunzel began and looked at the former thief. He looked back and smiled. He hadn't a reason to be nervous, because Rapunzel's father already knew about the proposal. And Rapunzels mother certainly wouldn't mind if he married Rapunzel. She was still grateful that he brought her daughter home, and she was also the first one who had forgiven him his past. She loved him like her own son, and he knew it.

"He has asked me to marry him. We're engaged," Rapunzel finally managed to say as she smiled nervously. Rapunzel's father tried to hide a smile when he saw the nervousness of his daughter. He hadn't any problems with the engagement of his daughter and her boyfriend. Despite his past, Eugene was actually a decent guy and everyone in the castle noticed soon after they arrived that he would do anything for Rapunzel. King Peter could not imagine a better husband for his daughter.

But his wife, who hadn't known about it, nearly dropped the slice of bread she held in her hand in that moment. She looked at her daughter and Eugene, who still looked at her and her husband full of expectation. For one moment, Queen Susan was perplexed, but then she began to smile.

"That's wonderful," she said and looked at the gold ring that shone at Rapunzels ring finger. The princess had laid her hand on the table so that her parents had a proof.

"Yes, I have to agree with you, Susan", King Peter nodded and couldn't help giving but give Eugene a appreciative glance. Eugene replied with a grin and a slight nod. The two women at the table, Queen Susan, and Rapunzel, didn't miss that. Both remarked to speak with their husband or fiancé about it later. King Peter turned to Eugene: "Eugene, you know that a marriage with Rapunzel will make you a prince consort. That means a lot of responsibility for you."

Eugene returned the gaze seriously. "I know, Your Majesty. I will do my best to meet the requirements" he replied. That was what worried him most. Would he be able to do what the people expect of him? Would the people want him as the husband of their princess?

During the breakfast, they talked about the proposal and the wedding. After they finished eating, Eugene and Rapunzel had to say goodbye for a while. Both had to take lessons until the afternoon. As they left the dining room side by side, Rapunzel asked, "When do you finish your lessons?"

"3 p.m. You?"

"Me too. Should we meet at the fountain in the garden?" Rapunzel suggested. Eugene smiled.

"I would love to meet you. See you later" he agreed, and gave his fiancée a brief farewell kiss before they parted at the door and walked away in different directions.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Eugene left the library, where his teacher had taught him history, several hours later with a relieved sigh. Learning all the rulers of Corona by heart nearly bored him to death. He looked forward to spend the rest of the afternoon with Rapunzel. He wanted to make his way to the garden as fast as possible.

But just as he reached the end of the corridor, someone stopped him. "Eugene" a familiar voice called him. He turned around to see King Peter walking towards him. Beside the king walked the Captain of the Guard of Corona. Eugene narrowed his eyes. Even though he wasn't a criminal anymore, the situation between him and the Captain had not improved. There had been too many years in which the Captain had chased him. But that was alright with both of them; they just hated each other in peace.

Eugene bowed before the King and looked at him curiously. "Is there a problem, your majesty?" He gestured to the Captain. King Peter sighed deeply and nodded, the seriousness obviously present on his face.

"Yes, in fact. I've just heard about it recently and I think it's better to tell you. The situation is this: last night, two of our prison inmates should have been hanged. But they overwhelmed our guards, steal their weapons and flee" he said soberly. Eugene frowned. Sure, it did not sound good, but what had that to do with him?

"Excuse me, your Majesty, but why are you telling me this?" he asked. Peter King sighed again.

"The criminals who broke out yesterday, are the Stabbington brothers, Eugene," he added. Eugene widened his eyes in disbelief. Okay, that was bad. That was very, very bad. That was _really_ bad.

But then he got angry. He turned to the captain and shouted at him, "How could you let these two escape? Don't you know that they want to kill me? "

"As if that was were such a big loss, Rider," mocked the called and scowled at Eugene. Before the situation could escalate into a real dispute, King Peter stopped them.

"Eugene! Captain! That leads to nothing. Captain, you send out your men to find these criminals. Eugene, I want that you to take care of my daughter."

"I'll take care of the problem, your Majesty." The captain bowed, gave Eugene a death stare, and walked back the corridor he came.

"Please excuse me, your Majesty; I have to go, too" Eugene apologized, bowing just like the captain did a few moments before and turning around to go. But the king stopped him again by saying his name. Eugene turned around to look at his future father-in-law.

"I just wanted to congratulate you on your successful proposal. Were you nervous?" He grinned a little as Eugene nodded. "I felt the same when I proposed to Susan. But I've never regretted it," chuckled King Peter.

"I certainly won't regret it" Eugene replied and then really went to the garden. As fast as he could, he rushed down the hallways. He was already too late. He really hoped Rapunzel wouldn't be angry. But he also was nevertheless concerned about the Stabbington brothers. The two wanted to see him dead, he knew it. And Rapunzel was also in danger; the two brothers didn't know her hair wasn't magical anymore.

It didn't take long for him to reach the garden. As arranged, Rapunzel sat on the wall that circled the fountain, and smiled as she saw him. He sat down beside her and gave her a short hug.

"You're late" Rapunzel said and raised an eyebrow.

"I know. I got held up," Eugene replied, shrugging.

Rapunzel leaned against him and smiled blissfully. He put an arm around her and rested his chin onto her head. "On a day like today, I want to marry," Rapunzel muttered.

"What do you mean?" Eugene asked slightly confused.

"Well, it's warm, sunny, and I prefer marrying outside," Rapunzel explained. She freed herself gently from his embrace and looked at him. He gave her a soft smile and shook his head slightly.

"Blondie, it's always warm and sunny in this kingdom. But of course we can marry out here if you want it."

"Oh yes. But we have to do so much. The flowers, the food, the decor, the guest list ... Do you think we can invite Cinderella, Belle, Mulan, Tiana, Anya, Odette and the others?" The princess took her fingers to show him how many things had to be done until the wedding and looked at her future husband. He laughed, clearly amused.

"Of course we can invite your friends. But I just proposed to you yesterday, we don't have to get married next week. We still have time, Rapunzel," he tried to calm her down.

"But I want to get married to you as soon as possible" Rapunzel replied. She leaned against him again and looked at the ring.

"By the way, how did you get the money to pay the ring? Must have been very expensive," she wanted to know, turning her hand slightly to be able to view the jewelry piece on all sides.

"Oh, I didn't pay it," Eugene said, shrugging. Rapunzel looked at him blankly. Did he mean what she thought? She hoped real hard that he didn't. And if he did, she still had her frying pan and it worked perfectly.

"You stole it?" It was hard for her not to shout. But after saying it, she wanted to take it back. Eugene looked really insulted and a bit hurt.

"Do you want to insult me?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. He was actually quite proud to have given up stealing. That she, who had always believed in him, thought he could do something like that hurt him.

"I'm so sorry, Eugene. But if you haven't bought it, where did you get the ring then? "Rapunzel apologized, but kept the same time also terribly curious. Eugene sighed and put on a weak smile. He could not be angry with her, it just wasn't possible.

"It's an heirloom."

"An heirloom?" Rapunzel frowned. Eugene nodded and his smile grew wider.

"Exactly. After all, this," Eugene took her hand and pointed to the ring, "is the ring that my father gave my mother. My mother gave it to me just before her death. She said I should take good care of it and give it to someone who deserves it. I can not imagine a woman who deserves it more than you."

"Oh Eugene." The emotion almost brought tears into Rapunzels eyes. Now the ring seemed even more valuable to her than before. She vowed to take good care on it, just as Eugenes mother had wished. The princess could not believe that Eugene really trusted her so much that he gave her the ring of his mother.

"You've never told me about your parents," Rapunzel remarked.

"There isn't much to tell."

"Please." Rapunzel looked at Eugene with a begging expression in her large green eyes. Her lips were pursed in a way Eugene adored. He could never resist that look. Sighing, he began to speak, "My father's name was Thomas. According to my mother, he had the same dark brown hair like me and dark green eyes. My mother had blonde hair and the same eyes like me. Her name was Lillian. Satisfied? "

Rapunzel cocked her head and folded his arms. Although she said nothing, in her eyes you could clearly see a "Do I look like that?" Eugene shook his head slightly and continued to talk. He hated to tell others of his past, even if it was someone he trusted completely.

"My father was a businessman. He often travelled for several days, but he always hurried to come back home to us, that means my mother and me, as soon as possible. We weren't poor, but otherwise we weren't rich. For us, it went well, we were satisfied." He smiled at the thought of his nice childhood memories, but when he thought about what was going to happen next, his smile disappeared and his eyes became sad. Quietly, he added, "We were, at least until I was about two years old."

"What happened?" Rapunzel asked gently and snuggled back into Eugenes embrace.

"My father died," Eugene replied soberly. Rapunzel looked at him with a shocked expression, but he shook his head slightly as a sign that it was okay, and forced himself to smile. He sadly continued, "My mother later told me that my father was on the way back from a business trip that evening. On his way home, he was attacked by bandits, robbed and murdered." Rapunzel and Eugene shivered at the same time. But besides the sorrow, anger could be seen in Eugene face. Anger at the men who took his father away from him.

"Oh, Eugene, I'm so sorry," muttered Rapunzel with wide eyes. She laid a hand on his cheek, to force him to look at her. He had fixed his gaze intently on his clenched fists so Rapunzel didn't see his face. After all those years, it did still hurt to think about the loss of his father. And it wasn't only this loss.

Eugene laid her hand on hers and looked into her eyes. He could see heartfelt sympathy in her wet, green soul mirrors. "It's okay. That was long ago."

"And what happened to your mother? Lillian?"

"To say that she was unhappy after the death of my father would be the understatement of the century. She was heartbroken; I do not even want to know what she would have done without me. On her death bed, she told me that, without me, she wouldn't have had a reason to live at this time. I think she felt worse than you did when I died." Instinctively, he touched the spot on his black vest where the scar was. Rapunzel also swallowed at the memory of this situation in the tower.

"Just after his death, and also years later, I heard often how she cried in the night when she thought I slept. But it got much worse. My mother worked as hard as she could, but we had just enough money to live. About six years later, I was just eight at that time, a terrible disease swept the country. Many people died. Unfortunately…" Eugene let out a deep sigh. "Unfortunately, my mother was one of them. We could not pay the doctor. When she knew that she would die, she gave me the ring. I have hidden it ever since, especially in the orphanage, to make sure that it wasn't taken away from me. Shortly after she gave me the ring, my mother died and I was given to the orphanage. Well, you know how things went on."

Rapunzel was deeply affected. Although she had known that Eugene parents had died young, she hadn't expected that his story was that sad. She regretted asking him about his parents. She didn't like the sad expression of his eyes. He tried to hide his sorrow, but he didn't succeed.

"I'm sorry for asking," she muttered ruefully. Eugene took her hand, which was still on his cheek, into his and squeezed it reassuringly. He looked deep into her eyes and said: "It's okay. At least now you know everything. "

Now he had her. And he wouldn't let anyone hurt her or take her away from him. If the Stabbington Brothers really decided to attack her, he would do everything he could to protect her. But he began to doubt they were really after him. It would be very stupid to attack the princess of Corona and her future husband. They wouldn't take the risk. At least he tried to tell that to himself.


	4. Wedding plans and a dance

More than two months passed without anything noteworthy happening. Although he tried keeping Rapunzel near him and in the palace at first, Eugene's concerns about a possible attack gradually subsided. He spoke regularly with King Peter and the captain, but in and around Corona was no trace of the Stabbington brothers. Eugene started to hope they had taken the opportunity and fled. And later, he started to be certain they disappeared forever.

The news about the royal engagement quickly spread over the whole kingdom of Corona. The maids told the kitchen boys, the kitchen boys told the bakers, the shop owners and the marketers, who told it their neighbors and so on. In a city like Corona, where everyone knew everyone, nothing stayed secret. Everyone was happy for the young couple, and the few that were suspicious towards Eugene were wise and kept their mouths shut.

The fall came almost overnight to Corona. The leaves turned into a variety of tones and shades of brown, yellow and red and began to sail from the trees to the ground. Rapunzel often ran around outside, watching the falling leaves and dancing amid the foliage lying on the floor. Eugene smiled and chuckled whenever he saw this, he loved seeing how Rapunzel was fascinated even by such simple things like the beginning of the fall.

In addition to her lessons, the young couple began gradually thinking about the wedding which should take place in spring. Although Rapunzels mother had promised to take care of the decoration and flowers and Rapunzels father would write the main part of the guest list, Eugene and Rapunzel had to decide many things.

It was sometime in the middle of October when Eugene roamed through the palace in search of his fiancée. Whoever he asked, no one could help him. It seemed like no one had seen the princess for a while. But it had to be said that the palace was quite empty; Rapunzels parents were in a meeting, many of the young guards in training and because it was only early afternoon, most maids and servants were somewhere around the kitchen or took a break.

He eventually found her in the library. Bent over a sheet of paper with a quill in her hand and a small inkpot next to her, she sat on a chair next to a table near the window. She didn't seem to notice him and kept writing calmly. He leaned against the table and took a look at the paper.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

With a startled cry the princess dropped the quill. Her head snapped around to face him. When she recognized him, she glared angrily at him with her green eyes.

"Eugene! Do you have to scare me like that?" she scolded at him and narrowed her eyes. However, Eugene just gave her a amused smile in response. The former thief knew that his fiancée was rarely angry at him and her anger never lasted very long, so it didn't really matter she was angry now. He just raised his hands defensively for a short moment.

"All right, I'm sorry. So, what are you doing?" He sat down on an empty chair next to Rapunzels. She scowled at him one more moment before she began to smile slightly.

"I write down a list of a few people I want to invite to our wedding" she explained and handed the paper to Eugene. He looked at the list and began to read it in a low voice.

"Snow White and Ferdinand, Cinderella and Prince Charming, Aurora and Phillip, Ariel and Eric, Mulan and Shang, Pocahontas and John Smith, Tiana and Naveen -"

"Of Maldonia!" Rapunzel added with a grin.

"Yeah, nuance. Belle and Adam, Jasmine and Aladdin, Anastasia and Dimitri, Odette and Derek and at last Kayley and Garrett." He looked at Rapunzel and tilted his head. "Blondie, you know Garrett won't actually _see_ the wedding?"

It took Rapunzel only a short moment to realize what Eugene meant by emphasizing the word "see". She glared at her future husband with angry sparking eyes and hit him on his upper arm.

"Eugene, don't be that mean!"

"It isn't mean, it's just a fact" Eugene defended himself and rubbed the spot on his upper arm where Rapunzel had hit him. If the little brunette princess wanted, she could punch very hard, he already noticed that more than one year ago when she knocked him out in the tower.

"But you know he notice enough without seeing something. I addition to that he has Kayley and she can tell him what's going on and what everything looks like" Rapunzel said and looked at him with a slightly annoyed glance. Eugene shrugged.

"Talking during a wedding isn't good. Moreover it will be loud enough because of all this children that will be there" Eugene remarked and looked at the list one more time. He thought about how many children it would be and eventually knew it would probably be fourteen. He didn't wonder about it, eight of the listed couples had children, most of them two, some of them only one, and Mulan and Shang had three children. Sighing, he put the list down on the table again. He probably couldn't expect things to run smoothly on the wedding day.

"Oh come on, Eugene. The children are well educated and they aren't that small anymore, I'm sure they will behave very well" Rapunzel tried to convince her husband to-be, and patted his arm. Unfortunately she patted the spot where she hit him just one or two minutes before. Eugene grimaced for a brief moment without really noticing it. Rapunzel did not see it, but looked back on her list. Like him, she had already counted how many children would be there, but unlike Eugene she didn't care. She loved children and liked the sight of the happy faces of her friends and their husbands when they were with their children. She hoped that she and Eugene would have their own little family one day. Of course not immediately, she wasn't ready by now, but sometime.

Eugene raised an eyebrow. "Rapunzel, Tiana's daughter is two years old."

Rapunzel looked at him with pleading puppy eyes. This face of her wasn't unlike his smolder, but even more adorable. "Please, Eugene. We cannot tell them that they are not allowed to bring their children."

Eugene gave up and showed it with a sigh. He remarked for himself he had to train resisting her eyes. "All right. But don't blame me later if some of the children make noise during the ceremony or throw the cake to the ground or if who-knows-what-happens" he warned her.

"Oh Eugene, thank you" she cheered and hugged him impetuously. He chuckled, held her close to him a short time and gave her a kiss on her cheek before they pulled away from each other. But Eugene let one of his arms wrapped around her waist while she rolled up the sheet of paper.

"I will give this" she waved with the rolled-up list "give to my father to let him know he should invite them. What do you think about taking a little walk in the garden then?" She looked at Eugene, but he just shrugged. He just wanted to spend time with her, it didn't matter what they did.

No sooner said than done. As soon as the list lay on the desk of the king with a note what to do with it the young couple made its way out of the palace and strolled along the leave covered ways hand in hand. Trying to rake the leaves was a hopeless task. With so many trees and bushes that were here already 3 new piles of leaves were there if they had swept one. Nevertheless, the two repeatedly snatched a look at the desperate gardeners, and laughed softly about them. At some point the gardeners noticed it and scowled at them secretly. After that Rapunzel and Eugene tried not to laugh so loud.

On a small bench in the back of the garden they sat down at last. Rapunzel laid her head on Eugene's shoulder, at least as far as she could, and snuggled into his warm embrace. She looked at the leaves swaying in the wind.

"If someone had told me one and a half year ago I would sit here today, I would have laughed at him" Eugene remarked after a while and laughed quietly. Rapunzel turned her head to him and looked in his face.

"Why?"

Eugene laughed again. She was so sweet with her innocence. Rapunzel was certainly the smartest girl he had ever met, but sometimes she just didn't see the obvious. So he said: "Blondie, I was a thief, remember? And before I met you I didn't thought about changing that fact. So it was pretty unlikely that I would sit in the palace garden with the princess in my arms without some guards after me someday. I probably would be dead without you. You're the only one that stands between me and the gallows." He thought with a shudder how close he was this death. However, he had really died shortly thereafter. Actually the whole thing was pretty ironic. He wondered if escaping the death sentence just to die really counted in this case. He had to ask king Peter about it the next time he met him.

"But you've changed. Do you think they you still want to hurt you?" Rapunzel looked at him with worried eyes. But he shook his head.

"No, I don't think so. Your father has officially cleared me from my actions. But without Max and the guys from the Snuckling duckling I'd probably already met my maker." He had to thank his friends a lot. First of all, his life, his liberty, and that he was now with the prettiest, smartest and craziest girl he had ever met. He indeed owed them a lot.

„Good you're talking about them; I have to ask you something. Do you think Hook Hand would play on our wedding?" Rapunzel asked and looked at him with a pensive expression. Eugene shrugged slightly.

"I don't know. But for what reason should he disagree when you ask him? If I would play an instrument, it would be an honor for me to play at a royal wedding. Especially if the princess would ask me in person. And if he says no, you can still use your unbeatable weapon." He chuckled. Rapunzel on the other hand was slightly irritated.

"What? Using my frying pan to deal with Hook Hand doesn't work. She remembered well as she had tried to beat him to release Eugene from the hands of thugs. Her success was, however, been equal to zero, none of the ruffians had noticed her punches at all.

Now Eugene wasn't able to hold his amused laugh back anymore. Her puzzled expression was just hilarious. "That wasn't what I meant" he said, grinning broadly. "I meant your charm. You somehow manage to wrap everyone around your finger. Maximus, me, every single guard…I mean, you make it possible that a whole pub full of thugs starts to sing about dreams. He will agree, believe me." Rapunzel looked at him and blushed slightly.

"Do you really think that I have such an impact on others?"

Eugene smiled and hugged her tighter. He was glad she had chosen him; with her charisma she could have every guy. Their relationship hasn't always been easy, especially after Rapunzels return. Many people tried to force Rapunzel to choose a better man than him, but she was stubborn and they were in love, so they somehow managed to stay together until everyone accepted him. No, I don't think so. I know it. You have a bigger impact on men than I had in my best days as Flynn Rider on women. And THAT-" He emphasized the word special and grinned a little wider "-means something, believe me." After all he managed to make EVERY woman melt just by showing his famous Smolder by that time. Until the day he met Rapunzel. The Smolder never worked on her. But she wasn't like the other girls and that was one of the many things he loved about her, although it still annoyed him sometimes.

Rapunzel shook her head slightly, but she grinned and didn't make a comment about his last sentence. Flynn was a part of Eugene's past and would remain so. But that was it, past. They should focus instead on their future together.

"We could go to the Snuckling Duckling tomorrow and ask him. Then we wouldn't need to take care of the music" Rapunzel muttered. She thought briefly about what had to be organized. King Peter would take care of the guest list because Rapunzel didn't know all of her relatives; he just had to remember inviting the friends she wrote on the list. The other royal couples just had to be a part of her wedding. She would talk with her mother about the decoration and of course Eugene's opinion mattered, too. The royal tailor would be responsible of her dress and Eugene's suit and the chef himself would work to make everything about the food perfectly. She didn't need to worry; all those capable people were perfect for their job. Everything would go the way it should so that she and Eugene could enjoy the best day of their lives. After everything they've been through together it just had to be this way.

As she thought about the celebration after the wedding, a smile stole on her lips. She looked at her future husband with innocent eyes. "Eugene," she said to him with sugar-sweet voice. This tone made the alarm bells of the former thief ring immediately.

"Yes?" he asked suspiciously.

"You know we will dance at the celebration?"

Eugene narrowed his eyes. Oh no, he had almost completely forgotten that part, or rather he had tried to do so. If there was one thing besides the captain he hated then it was dancing.

With his luck, he would even have to take dance lessons, of course in addition to his normal lessons. "You don't mean waltzing, do you?" He moaned, but Rapunzels grin told him that it was waltzing. He knew he had to go through it, even if he didn't like it. It was his own wedding, so there was no way to escape. That would make a damned bad impression.

Rapunzel smiled encouragingly. "Waltzing isn't that difficult."

"That would be nice" was the growled response.

Rapunzel pulled away from his embrace, stood up and held out her hand for him with merry twinkling eyes. "It is. I'll show you. "Eugene looked doubtfully from her outstretched hand to her face. She really wanted to show him how to waltz right here in the garden? A look into her eyes told him the answer. Yes, she wanted to. He could hardly believe that he did so, but he grabbed her hand and let her pull him on his feet. According to his experience, arguing with her had no point, so he avoided it. Somehow, she got always what she wanted.

Rapunzel pulled him a few steps away from the bench, put one hand on his right shoulder and grabbed his hand with the other. Eugene placed his hand on her lower shoulder blade like someone told him sometime. He had learned how to waltz a couple of months ago, he just didn't like it.

Although it was still quite bearable with Rapunzel as a dance partner. Rapunzel looked into Eugene's eyes.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Would I get out of this situation by saying no?" Eugene replied with a grin and a sarcastic voice. He knew the answer. He thought about the opportunity of showing her his Smolder, but he knew it wouldn't help.

"No" Rapunzel replied grinning and took a step back, causing Eugene to took a step forward. At first, their steps and turns were a little insecure and they had to stop several times to avoid stepping on each other's feet. Most of these rhythm problems were caused by Eugene, Rapunzel rarely stumbled and that was caused by her high heels she had to get used to. But both of them gradually to each other and their dance became more harmonious and their motions safer. In elegant, exuberant spins they danced across the leaf-covered lawn. Around them the leaves flew in the wind and sank slowly to the ground, but that didn't destroy the harmony of this scene, quite the opposite. It made everything even more beautiful.

King Peter and Queen Susan, who had decided to take a walk just like their daughter and their future son-in-law, saw the happy couple. But Eugene and Rapunzel didn't notice them. The royal couple was too far away and even if the King and his wife stood next to them, they probably wouldn't have noticed them. They were focused just on each other and barely stopped holding eye contact. Queen Susan smiled by the sight of the two young people.

"They are really meant for each other, don't you think, Peter?" she muttered and looked away from the dancing couple to take a look at her husband. He also turned his gaze away to look into his wife's face, and nodded.

"Yes, I guess they are. Rapunzel couldn't wish for a better husband than Eugene. I just hope no one will destroy their happiness." He said the last sentence with a sigh. His wife noticed the worried tone in his voice and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

King Peter sighed deeply again. "No one has caught the Stabbington Brothers see them every now and then. Not here, but it is only a matter of time until they come back. As long as they are on the loose there is the danger that they will kidnap Rapunzel. Or try to kill Eugene" he said. He worried a lot about both of them. About his daughter he didn't want to lose again after only one year, and about Eugene who became something like a son for him during the time he has lived in the castle.

"Do you really think they'll come back?" his wife asked him and looked at him with concerned green eyes. He shrugged.

"I don't know. But I hope they find their peace somewhere else." Rapunzels father really hoped so, but he didn't believe it. The brothers were greedy for money and revenge. And when they killed Eugene and kidnapped Rapunzel, they would get both. Queen Susan looked into the blue eyes of her husband and smiled encouragingly.

"Everything will be all right, Peter. Have faith in our guards, they will certainly ensure that nothing happens to them, "she tried to cheer him up and put a hand on his cheek like she had done in the last year at Rapunzels birthday when both of them were praying their daughter would come back someday. King Peter put one hand on hers and returned a half-hearted smile.

"I hope so." He and his wife took a last glance at the two dancers and walked back to the palace. They didn't want to disturb Eugene and Rapunzel. But the princess and the future prince consort hadn't noticed the two viewers. Rapunzel looked up to Eugene and beamed at him.

"I didn't know you dance that well" Rapunzel chuckled and let Eugene whirl her around in circles. He smiled broadly, too. Somehow dancing was more fun than he expected. He laughed at Rapunzels remark.

"Me neither."

If they had known how much they would have to go through soon, they probably wouldn't be that unconcerned. But so they enjoyed their time together on that autumn day.


	5. It's not a secret anymore

**Hey! I'm back with a new chapter! In this chapter, Rapunzel will learn about something and...let's just say she isn't happy about it. I want to thank you for all the nice reviews and a big thank you at ToothlessMI for allowing me to write this fanfic. Have fun with reading!**

**Greetings from germany!**

* * *

><p>Several days passed after this afternoon in the garden. Although Rapunzel and Eugene had planned to visit the Snuggly Duckling the next afternoon, they hadn't time to do so. Lessons, meetings, visits by various dignitaries, and last but not least, the cold, wet autumn weather kept coming in their way. In fact, it took almost a week until they found a suitable afternoon. But that day seemed really perfect. The sun shone from the pale blue sky, casting its light on the still bare trees and the leaves which covered the paths more and more. On the paths were small puddles of earlier rain-showers. Only a slight breeze made the leaves on the ground rustle, but it didn't look like it was going to rain, and even if it was still pretty fresh outside, it wasn't as cold as usual. That might indeed be nothing compared with the wonderful summers you could enjoy in Corona, but for the autumn, the weather was quite good. And what was even more important was the fact that both Eugene and Rapunzel had no lessons that day, which was unusual in recent times.<p>

"What are you two going to do today?" asked Queen Susan on said morning during breakfast. Like every morning, Eugene, Rapunzel and her parents were sitting at the long table in the dining room together, enjoyed their breakfast and talked about various things. In recent weeks, the main subject was, of course, was the wedding, but today it was the visit of Queen Susan's brother who had planned to arrive wo days later.

Rapunzel thought for a moment and answered only a few moments later: "Today would be the perfect opportunity to ride to the Snuggly Duckling. Eugene and I want to ask Hookhand to play at our wedding." She was looking forward to spending some time outside the palace walls and horses were the fastest way to get were she wanted to go. Maybe she could even take Maximus.

King Peter and Queen Susan exchanged a worried glance. The Stabbington brothers had not been caught in the past week and unlike Eugene, they were still worried. But both knew that Rapunzel was still unaware of the outbreak of the brothers and like Eugene, they were not planning to tell her anything about it. Rapunzel had experienced enough horror because of those brothers and wanted to avoid that she got scared again. But how could they make her realize how dangerous this trip could be?

"We could still send one of our messengers to call him here" suggested King Peter, but Rapunzel smiled and shook her head.

"This is a nice offer, Dad, but I would like to get out of here. I've spent most of my time in the palace during the past few weeks and I'm looking forward to do something outside the palace or the town. Also, I can finally meet the pub thugs again" she explained. She looked so happy and full of anticipation that it was hard to say no. The king looked at Eugene, who just shrugged. He didn't know himself how to convince Rapunzel to stay here.

"But it's pretty cold outside, Rapunzel" her mother said, but Rapunzel just smiled and waved aside. She had planned to do something and she would not give up that easy.

"No problem, we put on warm clothes. It will be all right, you'll see. We want to do it ourselves, don't we, Eugene?" Of course he would prefer to stay in the palace, besides Rapunzels safety also for his own sake, but it was difficult to refuse when she wished for something. Nevertheless, he hadn't expected that they would ask him for his opinion. If he said he wanted to stay in the palace, they would do so. But then Rapunzel would be unhappy and he wanted her to be happy. He felt the expectant glances and cleared his throat softly.

"Uh, yes, we want so, your majesty."

"Okay, but please don't stay too long" Queen Susan sighed and looked at her husband. Both of them hoped very much everything would be fine. The Stabbington brothers had last been spotted a day's ride from here, so it was unlikely that they would come here now. But it was possible.

After the breakfast the king took Eugene aside for a moment after Rapunzel had already gone into her room to get ready. He looked at his future son-in-law seriously. "Eugene, you are aware of the danger you get her and yourself into, aren't you?" The gaze of his serious blue eyes, which radiated like always an incredible dignity, but also a deep fatherly concern, drilled into the glance of Eugene's hazel ones. Eugene nodded confidently.

"Don't worry your majesty. I don't think they are currently around here. In case that I'm wrong, we could take Maximus and if they attack us, I will protect her. I would die for her if it is necessary" he promised, and looked at King Peter with a confident, determined expression. Rapunzels father replied with a deep sigh. He had feared Eugene would say so. But he wanted both of them to be safe. In addition, Rapunzel would be very unhappy if something happened to Eugene. But he said none of all those words. He only put a hand on Eugenes shoulder.

"I know. But please watch over both of you."

Eugene bowed and took one step backwards. "I will, your Majesty." He straightened up, turned around and left the room. King Peter looked after him worriedly, until his wife stepped to his side.

"It will be all right, Peter."

"I hope so" her husband replied with a sigh.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"No way, Rider. Why should I give you my horse?" The captain folded his arms and looked at Eugene with a haughty, inflexible glance. Eugene sighed, annoyed by the obstinacy of this man.

"I'll tell you again; you don't seem to understand it. I don't want to Maximus for me, but for Princess Rapunzel. First because she wants it and secondly because Maximus is without question the best horse in this stable. So what is your problem?" He looked at the older man firmly. They had argued countless times in the past and as always none of them wanted to give up this time.

"My problem is that I don't know why I should do what you or your fiancée want. You cause enough trouble" the captain replied. Rider had caused him, without exaggeration, sleepless nights. For years he had been chasing after this miserable thief, even at night, but he never caught him. And when they finally imprisoned him and he could almost taste the triumph of seeing this troublemaker hanging soon, Flynn Rider broke out. And his own horse, Maximus, of which he had always been so proud, had helped the thief! After he had recovered from this personal humiliation, he hated Eugene more than ever before. The reason why he didn't like Rapunzel was that she was the reason why he had to see the criminal every day. But of course he did what she told him to do without grumbling. After all, she was a member of the royal family. But Eugene wasn't, or at least not yet.

"It's not about doing her or me a favor. It is about her safety. Do you want to be blamed that the princess gets kidnapped?" Eugene's tone became much sharper. He hated the captain as much as the captain hated him because the older man had chased him all his years as a thief and almost caught him several times. But what he hated even more was if someone knowingly risked Rapunzels safety or even her live.

"It isn't my fault if you can't take care of your fiancée." This comment of the Captain brought Eugene almost to the edge of his self-control. He tried to stop himself from wishing to grab his opponent's collar and shake him vigorously. Instead, he clenched his fists and said almost growling: "Now listen, you arrogant, pompous ..."

"Is there a problem?" The sound of a soft voice made both men turn their heads to the door of the stable. No one else but Rapunzel entered the building and walked towards the two men a worried expression on her face. She had noticed that the captain and Eugene were arguing again and she didn't like their arguments at all.

Eugene relaxed and looked at her with a forced smile on his face while the captain reluctantly bowed. After he cleared his throat briefly Eugene replied: "No, absolutely not. I was just talking with the captain about whether he could give you Maximus for a while."

"Oh." Rapunzel looked from Eugenes face to the captain, a strange mixture of a silent please and almost accidental authority in her eyes. Eugene noticed she had learned to use the same expression of authority and dignity he saw often in her parents eyes. But he didn't believe she did it on purpose. She was just too…he searched for the right words…cute, innocent and lovable to do so. It had to run in her blood, literally.

"Would you be so kind captain? I would be very happy. And I think Maximus would be happy, too." She went to the white stallion that stood near them and scratched his chin and a spot behind his ears. Maximus snorted satisfied and closed his eyes, enjoying her attention. Moments later he opened them again to nod in the captain's direction. Even Pascal, who was sitting on Rapunzels shoulder as always, looked at the man with a pleading expression. Eugene smiled triumphantly at the sight. No one could resist Rapunzels charisma, especially if Pascal and Max helped her. He watched how the captain tensed his jaw and gritted his teeth, but finally nodded. When the Princess of Corona asked for something, you could hardly say no. Rapunzel gave him one of her radiant smiles and replied with a simple "Thank you."

Eugene could not resist to say "Yes, thank you captain" too, and he did with a very complacent tone and a broad, triumphant smile. The captain gave him a deathly glance, but Eugene simply ignored it. With a bad mood and angry, stomping steps, the captain left the stables. Rapunzel asked two stable boys to saddle two horses for her and Eugene and looked at her fiancé disapprovingly.

"Eugene, do you two always have to argue?"

He shrugged and while he accompanied Rapunzel who already moved towards the doors, he answered: "He started it. If he hadn't refused to let you take Maximus, there would have been no need to discuss." But that was only half of the truth. Actually, he saw no need for being kind to the captain or to get along with him.

"But Eugene, you can't argue every time you see each other for the rest of your lives. Sometime, you have to learn to get along with each other. Why don't you do the first step?" Rapunzel asked him and looked at him pleading, but somehow kind of sternly. Pascal looked back and forth between her and Eugene and imitated the way she looked at him. It was his way of helping Rapunzel if she tried to convince Eugene to do something and normally it worked. But this time Eugene didn't agree that easy.

"Rapunzel, I don't WANT to do the first step. This guy chased me almost ten years and if it weren't for Max and the pub thugs, he would have killed me" he said and folded his arms. She wasn't the only one who could be stubborn.

Rapunzel stopped walking outside the doors and grabbed his arm. She looked at her future husband seriously. "Eugene Fitzherbert, during the last fourteen months, I told you to leave your past behind you several times and you did it. So please do it this time. For me." In addition to that, the captain had been upset by Flynn Rider. Why didn't he see this part of Eugene was history? He could just see over it and be nice to Eugene, like everyone else.

Eugene sighed. He wished it would be as easy as she imagined it. But it wasn't. "Rapunzel, you can't end an enmity that lasted for years that easy." His eyes seemed cold, which was very unusual for him and his voice was strangely hard when he said: "Just what until I am his boss. No way, we will never get along." But once again he lost because of Rapunzels most effective weapon. She looked at him with puppy eyes which were much better than his own. Looking for help, he turned away from Rapunzels big, green, pleading eyes and looked at Pascal on her shoulder, but that didn't help. Pascal looked at him with his own very cute version of the Smolder. Eugene tried to resist, really, but after ten seconds in which he had tried to avoid meeting the glance of the two pairs of eyes, his resistance was broken. He let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes for a moment.

"All right, I'll try it" he said reluctantly with gritted teeth and couldn't believe he did it the same time. He opened his eyes again and watched how Rapunzels face brightened and began to glow with joy. Happily, she threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you" she said. Eugene smiled half-heartedly as reaction and put his arms around her back. He enjoyed feeling her near him, but he couldn't help thinking: "What have I done?" But as a kind of reconciliation, Rapunzel gave him a loving kiss he returned without hesitation. He focused entirely on the feeling of her soft lips on his, closed his eyes and didn't notice anything around him, like Pascal who turned red on Rapunzels shoulder and covered his eyes as he always did when he saw them kissing. He didn't know how long they stood there, until he suddenly felt something on his back and was pushed forward slightly. Rapunzel and he broke away from each other in surprise. Like Eugene Rapunzel had been totally absorbed by the kiss. Only Pascal let out a sigh of relief and showed a thumb up in Maximus direction. The horse, who was the one who nudged Eugene, nodded.

"Here are the horses, your Highness" said the stable boy who came out of the stable with Maximus reins in one hand and the reins of a black horse in the other. Eugene knew the black stallion named Gismo and had no concerns. He nodded to Christian, the stable boy, took the reins of his horse and climbed into the saddle with ease. He looked at Rapunzel who let the stable boy help her into Maximus saddle. Smiling she looked at Pascal who gave her a sign that he was ready and let Maximus move forward. Eugene followed her on his horse. Side by side they left the courtyard and Corona in a slow pace. After they crossed the bridge, they rode a little faster.

Rapunzel looked around with a big smile and sparkling eyes and Eugene watched her and smiled when he saw how much she enjoyed being outside. He was glad she was happy. Pascal had climbed down from Rapunzels shoulder and sat on Maximus head now. The horse and the chameleon were talking quietly, but of course Rapunzel and Eugene couldn't understand them.

"Oh, Eugene, isn't it beautiful out here?" Rapunzel asked and looked at the trees which looked almost like paintings with their different colored leaves against the pale blue sky. Eugene nodded slightly and looked around as well. His gaze remained on the trunk of a tree and he looked more closely at the sheet of paper which was attached to it. A wanted poster! Of the Stabbington brothers!

Hurriedly, he pointed at some point between the trees. "Just look over there!" he said quickly and while Rapunzel looked in the direction he pointed to, he let his horse go faster, so he was between her and the tree.

"I see nothing" said Rapunzel and looked at him again. He shrugged.

"I guess I was wrong."

But this wanted poster wasn't the only one in this forest and Rapunzel soon got suspicious because of all the things Eugene did to distract her. But Eugene knew if Rapunzel spotted one of the wanted posters, he would get in trouble. After the Stabbington brothers were imprisoned, most of the wanted posters had been destroyed by the weather or they were taken off the trees and walls and Rapunzel knew about this fact. These wanted posters were new. Annoyed Eugene thought it would have been nice of his future parents-in-law to warn him.

Somehow they managed to reach the Snuggly duckling without anything happening. In front of the pub, Eugene and Rapunzel slipped off the backs of their horses and brought them to the other horses. Hand in hand the young couple walked into the pub and immediately they had the attention of almost everybody who sat inside the building.

"Rapunzel! Eugene!" several people greeted them. Eugene responded with a nod, Rapunzel with a joyful smile and a friendly "Hello."

They sat down near the piano Hookhand was playing at as always and were soon surrounded by many of the pub thugs, including Big Nose with his girlfriend Marian, Vladimir, Attila, Ulf and many others. Hookhand also stopped playing and joined them after a short time.

"What do you guys want here?" Shorty wanted to know and everyone looked at them curiously. The last time they had visited them Eugene and Rapunzel told them about the engagement and like the last time, many people looked at the valuable on Rapunzels hand. But everyone was happy for the couple and was looking forward to the wedding.

"We want to ask you something, Hookhand" Eugene said and looked at Rapunzel with a expression that said: "Your turn." After all, it had been her idea. She nodded and added: "Yes, Eugene and I want to ask you to play at our wedding."

Hookhand just looked at them for a moment, but when he realized this was a serious offer, he began to smile. This was a chance to play in front of many people he couldn't miss. "It would be an honor" he replied. Rapunzel jumped up out of joy, ran to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Hookhand smiled at her. Eugene watched put and arm around her when she said down next to him again and she leaned against him.

"Have you already started to prepare the wedding?" Marian asked.

"Yes. At least we have written the guest list, and the other things can wait. After all, we still have five months" Rapunzel answered, but not without adding: "But I can't wait until next spring. I'm so excited." She looked up at Eugene who looked back at her and smiled like she did. His slight nod said that he felt the same way.

Another thing came in Rapunzels mind. She looked at Attila. "Attila, it would be great if you could bake cupcakes for our wedding celebration. But we expect many guests, so we would need many of them" she asked. Attila didn't answer, but he held out a tray with freshly baked muffins in her direction. Everyone took one and bit into it.

"Mm, delicious" Rapunzel sighed contently after she swallowed the first bit and took another one.

"I agree" Eugene agreed between two bites and even Pascal, who at a small piece of Rapunzels cupcake, showed thumbs up.

The couple and the chameleon spend several hours in the pub with the thugs, talking with them and answering questions about the wedding and Rapunzel sang with them as she always did when she was here. But when the sky began to turn reddish in the west, they said goodbye and went out of the pub in a good mood.

"It was a nice day, wasn't it, Eugene?" Rapunzel asked as she rode on Maximus beside Eugene and his horse. Pascal sat sleepily on her shoulder.

"Yes, it was" Eugene nodded. Talking, they trotted through the autumn forest which was filled with evening air which had gotten colder during their visit. Rapunzel pulled the thin cloak she had taken with her against the low temperatures closer around herself. Eugene noticed it and asked slightly worried: "Are you cold? I can give you my vest if you want it."

Rapunzel waved aside with a smile. "Thanks for being so kind, but it isn't necessary. We're almost at-." She stopped suddenly as she looked past him. With a mixture of curiosity and astonishment she slightly took on the reins to signal Maximus to stop. Eugene held his horse back about four feet further as well.

"Blondie? You okay?" He turned his horse and rode back. Rapunzel had ridden closer to a tree and studied a piece of paper attached on it. Her eyes widened.

"This is a wanted poster of the men you stole my crown with" she stated softly and scared. She still remembered the incident at the shore just after she had seen the lanterns for the first time with Eugene. She had been so afraid. And these men had tricked Eugene to take revenge on him. An ice cold chill ran down her back. Shouldn't these men be in jail?

"Eugene, why aren't they-" She turned her head to ask him, but when she saw his face, the words died on her lips. She had expected him to look frightened. But she saw no surprise in his eyes, but guilt and that expression people often show when they want someone to forgive them. She remembered his strange behavior on their way to the Snuggly duckling and a suspicion formed in her mind.

"Eugene, do you know something about it?" There was no other way to explain he didn't look surprised. He had to know it.

"Rapunzel…." He looked at her and knew lying wouldn't help. He had lied to her long enough. Now she knew it anyway, so he could tell her the whole truth, otherwise she would ask her parents. So he only nodded ashamed.

"Since when?"

"They broke out the evening I asked you to marry me. Your father and the captain told me about it the next morning" he explained quiet. Rapunzel gasped with a mixture of anger and injury. Her father and probably her mother knew about it too? The 19-year-old princess felt betrayed. She wasn't a baby anymore!

"And you didn't tell me anything?"

"I'm sorry. We thought it would be-"

"It isn't the best! This kingdom is my home! I want to know what's going on here!" she yelled at him. Then she let Maximus gallop away without looking back at Eugene once. It rarely happened that she was really mad at Eugene, but this was such a moment. And not only at him, even at her parents.

Eugene stood still for one moment in shock. Then he tried his best to follow her, but Maximus was the fastest horse of the royal guard. They almost reached the bridge when he caught up to his fiancée.

"Rapunzel, listen to me" he pleaded. The princess looked at him. He could still see anger in her eyes, but beside that, he spotted injury about his behavior and that made him feel really bad. He didn't want to hurt her like that.

"Eugene, I simply don't understand why you didn't tell me about it. I'm not a child anymore."

He sighed again. "I know. I'm so sorry."

"Just leave me alone, okay?" she asked him and he did what she wanted. They rode the rest of the way silently. Rapunzel was lost in thoughts and Eugene felt guilty. Even the stable boys and the servants noticed something was wrong. Usually, Rapunzel was filled with happiness and joy and Eugene was normally in a very relaxed mood. This depressed mood between the two of them was unusual, but no one dared to ask. Except Rapunzels parents who met Eugene after Rapunzel had already fled into her room.

"She knows about the Stabbingtons." Eugene's response was enough to explain everything. The former thief just thought about one thing: how should he make everything okay again?


	6. Sorry seems to be the hardest word

**I finally finished the new chapter. Just to avoid misunderstandings, the first part of the chapter is about how Eugene experiences the day, the second about how Rapunzel experiences it and the third about later that day from both views. And now have fun!**

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><p><span>Sorry seems to be the hardest word<span>

Rapunzels parents and Eugene understood that Rapunzel needed some time to think and they didn't disturb her that night. Eugene racked his brain half of the night about how he could make his mistake up to her. He could understand that she was mad at him, at least in some way. Of course she wanted to be informed when something happened, but on the other hand, he had only tried to protect her. She awakened the feeling in him to hug her and to protect her from horror and evil, although he knew she could defend herself very well. But at some point, another thought came into his mind. Why should he apologize because he wanted to spare her worries? She simply overreacted! Eventually, his tiredness was too much and he fell asleep, but it wasn't a peaceful sleep.

The next day seemed bewitched to Eugene. Deep in the night, he had made the plan to talk with Rapunzel before , when he was awakened by a servant, the breakfast was almost over. All his pondering had only caused that he overslept this morning. Swearing he changed his clothes and went briefly to the bathroom to get his tousled hair right, and then he hurried to his training. But the captain had never been gracious with latecomers and Eugene was certainly no exception. The defeat of the previous day was still fresh and so he told Eugene to train extra long with malicious glee in his dark eyes. Eugene protested, but there was no use. It was already early afternoon when he was allowed to go.

"You shouldn't rely too much on your luck, Rider. Not everyone is as blind as the princess" the captain said when he dismissed Eugene from the training. His lips were twisted into a sneer. He had caused Eugene too suffer in the training more than normally, as revenge for the previous day. Although the younger guards liked Eugene as a colleague and training partner, the others could still remember Flynn Rider very well and the captain knew how to use this fact. Eugene scowled at him.

"You're the only one who still has problems with me. Even the king forgave me" he corrected the captain who only snorted contemptuously. He didn't seem to want to talk to Eugene and went off in the direction of the stables. Eugene also turned around and walked towards the castle when he suddenly heard someone calling his name.

"Rider!" He turned around and looked questioningly at the captain who stood a few feet away and looked in his direction. The older man shouted at him: "Don't imagine everyone likes you just because the king forgave you. He would do everything to make his daughter happy. Maybe he throws you out of the castle one day because the princess realizes what dirty criminal you are. If you meet the Stabbingtons and they kill you, say them I thank them." His words were pure dislike and contempt.

"Take care of your own business! I wish you an unhappy day!" Eugene shouted back. But although he had never given anything on the words of the captain, one sentence had hit him hard. When the princess realizes ... he turned around and trudged to the castle. His thoughts danced tango in his knew how important honesty was to Rapunzel. What if she didn't forgive him? Nevertheless a small part of his mind called that it wasn't his fault. The only thing he did was trying to do the right thing. But still, he had to talk to he immediately. As fast as he could, he ran to the dining room.

"Rapunzel" he called breathlessly. No one was there. No wonder, the lunch probably was over. Sighing, he turned around and left the large room. But much to his surprise he met Rapunzel who was standing in the corridor.

"You called me?" she asked calmly. He looked at her and saw a mix of anticipation, injury and sadness in her eyes. He nodded.

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you."

"About what you have done?"

Another nod of Eugene was the answer. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Where should he start? What should he say? He thought of it for a few moments and finally said: "I'm sorry that I haven't told you about it. But I was just trying to protect you and you know it."

"Eugene, you know that I don't ask you to do much, but especially YOU should know how important honesty is to me." He knew it. And he understood it after everything Gothel did in the past. But he felt like he had to defend himself.

"I tried to defend the person I love more than anything else. And therefore you're mad at me?" he replied slightly stroppy. But this tone was apparently enough for Rapunzel. She looked at him indignantly.

"I can take care of myself. And when two criminals who wanted to kill the person I love (she shuddered slightly at the thought) are on the loose in OUR kingdom, I want to know it" she said. Eugene knew that he had made a mistake, but in this moment, he didn't want to see it.

"That's why I knew you would worry! I didn't want you to be afraid!" he explained a little too loud. Rapunzel stared at him shocked and angry at the same time.

"I'm rather afraid than being lied to! It would probably be the best if you stopped talking!" With one motion she turned on her heels, picked up her skirts and ran away in a way that wasn't very princess-like. Eugene looked at her until she rounded the corner and was out of his eyesight. The expression of defiance in his brown eyes turned into regret and he felt the sudden urge to hit his head very firmly against the wall beside him. What had he done?

He wanted to follow her, but he knew she wouldn't listen to him in this moment. She was too angry. A deep sigh escaped his throat as he resignedly made his way to the kitchen to eat something before his lessons started. Perhaps he could talk with Rapunzel at dinner and ask her for forgiveness.

His hopes were partially fulfilled. Rapunzel was there, but it didn't seem like she wanted to talk to him. She hardly looked at him, and when she did, it wasn't the loving glance he was used to. Her eyes were full of pain, but on the other hand, they were still slightly angry. Eugene had learned many things during his long years of thief, but what happened right now was completely new for him. He hadn't felt that much guilt since the day he sat in prison and almost went insane because he was worried about what could have happened to Rapunzel. And before he never felt guilty since he was given to the orphanage. As Flynn Rider, he never was worried about the hurt feelings of a woman. What should he do now?

During the dinner, Rapunzel talked with her parents, though it wasn't the way they talked normally. However, it seemed like they already made up. But what was about him? He thought a few moments about what he could say to her.

"Rapunzel, I…" he made finally an attempt to talk to her. She turned her pretty face to him, the face of a young that always contained a childlike curiosity and joy. But in this moment, he could say none of it.

"Yes, Eugene?" she answered and looked at him hurt, but still there was a slight expectation in her eyes. He opened his mouth to apologize, but somehow he had a lack of words suddenly. Even a simple "Sorry" didn't come in his mind. He shook his head.

"Oh, nothing. Nevermind." Very briefly he thought that he saw something like disappointment in her eyes, but he told himself that he probably had just imagined it. She turned her gaze away from him immediately and whispered "Okay." Rapunzels parents watched it, but said nothing. They knew Rapunzel and Eugene had to deal with this problem by themselves.

Eugene would have liked to give himself a slap for his stupidly. He had known what he wanted to say! How could this be possible? Again he tried to talk to her, but he became discouraged. The whole evening went that way. Before he found the right words, all the plates were emptied and Rapunzel left the room.

"Now or never" Eugene thought and followed her on the corridor.

"Rapunzel" he began. She stopped walking a few feet away from him and turned around to look at her fiancé. To this time of the day, the corridors were almost dark. Only the torches which softly crackled at the wall produced a warm glow that light up the scene. Through the window the moon and the stars could be seen which casted a pale light in the corridor. Nevertheless Eugene couldn't see which feelings were reflected on Rapunzel face right now and that bothered him immensely. But he still needed to talk to her.

"I need to talk to you."

Rapunzel remained where she was, but he thought he saw a motion. As if she wanted to go to him but couldn't convince herself to do so. But it was possible that that was just imagination and hope. It took a moment till Rapunzel answered.

"About what?"

It was obvious that she knew what he meant. But despite that, he said it loud: "I wanted to talk with you about yesterday and about today. I know that I hurt you. You have to believe me that it was never intention to let all of this happen. I wanted to tell you about the Stabbingtons and I didn't want to say anything of what I said today, really. I'm sorry." That was everything he had to say in this moment, everything that came into his mind. All Eugene could do was to hope that she forgave him. Tensed he stared at her until a troubled sigh escaped her lips.

"Eugene, I understand you. But what you did really hurt me" she replied with a pained expression in her eyes.

"Will you forgive me sometime?" Eugene asked carefully. He was almost a little afraid of the answer. The princess sighed again.

"Eugene, I need time. Please wait a while" she asked him. The brown-haired ex-thief thought that this was probably the best thing he could expect at this moment. He nodded and replied: "Of course."

An awkward silence was between the couple that had been a heart and a soul just thirty hours ago. Between them were too many unspoken words which seemed to draw a gap between them they had to overcome somehow. But Eugene couldn't do it in this moment and said softly: "I have to go to bed. Visitor will arrive tomorrow."

"Yeah" Eugene agreed hesitantly. "You're right. Good night. I love you." Again, he wanted to slap himself, but this time because he had said too much. Was there a more inappropriate moment to say "I love you"?

Rapunzel gulped. "Good night." Hastily she turned around and hurried away, though without running. She had almost rounded the corner when she added barely audible: "I love you too."

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><p>Rapunzel experienced that day completely different. Unlike Eugene, she woke up early that morning, but she felt terrible, too. She lay in her bed without moving and she had not the slightest desire to get up what was very oddly for her. Normally, she couldn't wait to start a new day, but today, she didn't even want to see her beloved Eugene; the wound was too fresh. Sighing, she turned her head to Pascal who had been sitting on her pillow for some time.<p>

"Pascal, what should I do?" she asked hopelessly. The green reptile lifted his little shoulders, but of course that didn't help Rapunzel much. But the princess knew that she couldn't stay in bed forever. When someone knocked at her door, she finally sat up, sighing.

"I'm awake" she said loudly towards the door and watched how it opened and her maid Alessandra, a young woman with curly dark hair gentle sea-blue eyes entered her room. The maid walked a few steps in her direction, stopped and bowed. When she straightened up again, she looked at Rapunzel sympathetically and told her: "Your parents send me to align you that you can take your breakfast in your room if you want, your highness."

Rapunzel looked at the young woman for one moment and thought about the sudden offer. She knew that her parents loved to take their breakfast with her and that they made this offer to do her a favor. She had to admit that it was pretty nice of them. On the one hand she was still hurt, but on the other hand she wanted to get things right again and a talk with her parents would probably be a good start.

She smiled kindly at the young maid. "Tell my parents that I will take my breakfast in the dining room with them" she said. Alessandra nodded in reply, bowed again and walked away with a small smile on her lips.

Rapunzel looked at Pascal, but he already crawled off the bed. The chameleon was probably hungry, too. Rapunzel smiled a little and got out of the bed. Fifteen minutes later, her mother's ladies-in-waiting had helped her to change her nightgown into a blue dress and had brushed her hair. She put on a pair of dark blue shoes with small heels, although she hated them. She grabbed Pascal and put him on her shoulder.

"Go in and win" she murmured to the chameleon. Pascal made the same encouraging gesture he did when he wanted to encourage Rapunzel to ask Gothel to let her see the nodded to her little friend and left her room. Inwardly she steeled herself against the impending encounter with Eugene and her parents.

But when she stepped through the door of the dining room and looked to the table the only persons she saw were her parents. There was no trace of Eugene. Rapunzel didn't know whether she should rather be relieved or disappointed. She shrugged sighing and thought that Eugene would maybe come later. Sensing the glances of her parents on her she moved forward towards the table and sat down on her usual place in front of her parents, just on the other side of the wooden table.

"Good morning" she said softly.

"Good morning" her father and her mother replied and looked at each other. King Peter nodded to his wife. She should start talking; she always found much better words than him. Queen Susan looked at her daughter with the same green eyes the young princess had.

"Rapunzel, we're sorry that we haven't told you about the escape earlier. We thought it would be the best, but apparently, we were wrong" she told her with a calm voice. Rapunzel looked at her parents uncertainly. She wanted to forgive them, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to do so with her whole heart.

Her father, who had just nodded until now, added: Her father, who had nodded to just now, added: "After what happened there on the lake shore, we thought you were afraid of them. All of us - both us and Eugene – didn't want to worry you. We didn't think that it would take so long to recapture the two."

Rapunzel thought about it. Was she afraid? Yes, she was. Although she hadn't thought about it yet with all her anger and her hurt feelings, but of course she was worried. About Eugene and about herself. But that wasn't a real reason to withhold her important information like these.

"But Mama, father, even if you had told me, I would still have been in the palace and here it's safe" Rapunzel replied and suddenly she knew the reason of the strange behavior of Eugene and her parents. She looked at her parents with a serious face and noticed how both of them nodded.

"We also didn't want to think about it. We are afraid of losing you again, Rapunzel. And we wanted to protect you" Rapunzels father said with a quiet, yet somehow sad voice. Rapunzel looked into his blue eyes and felt that he meant every word by heart.

"We weren't there the first eighteen years to protect you from disaster. We love you, Rapunzel, and we are endlessly sorry. And I'm sure Eugene feels the same way" Rapunzels mother added softly. That was enough for Rapunzel. She stood up, walked around the table and hugged her parents.

"I forgive you" was everything she said. Her parents returned the embrace gratefully. For a while they remained this way, and then they changed a few words and began their breakfast at last. Although Rapunzel wouldn't forget what had happened she could forgive them. She had seen how sorry her parents were. Sometimes the most meaningful words were those which weren't spoken out aloud.

"Where is Eugene?" Rapunzel asked after a few moments and looked around. Still her fiancé wasn't there and now that she and her parents had made up, she wanted to make up with him, too. Sure he had had similar reasons, even if his silence met her even harder than the silence of her parents. He had been the first person she had trusted except Gothel. And Gothel had lied to her all her life. Eugene hadn't lied, but to conceal something important was almost the same as lying.

Her parents looked around, too, until her mother shrugged and said: "I don't know, dear. We haven't seen him today. Perhaps he is still asleep."

"I could send a servant to find Eugene" king Peter suggested and Rapunzel agreed thankfully with a nod. But unfortunately, Eugene wasn't on time because she had a time schedule herself and although she didn't want to, she had to finish her breakfast to go to her dancing lesson. She hated some parts of her new life as a princess, and beside her terrible shoes the many lessons were the thing she hated the most.

But there was nothing she could do about it and it was already noon when she was allowed to go to lunch. The dance lesson had been terrible. She loved dancing, but it wasn't great fun to be forced to dance for two hours on uncomfortable shoes. And she hated the way her dancing teacher told her things about etiquette whenever she asked if she could dance without shoes. But now she could finally take her lunch and hopefully she would meet Eugene there. She was sure he wanted to apologize, too.

But Rapunzel got bitterly disappointed. When she looked into the dining room, there was no Eugene and slowly she got the feeling that he avoided meeting her. Why didn't he come to lunch? She knew that he had to train with the palace guards today. That meant he had to be hungry. Before she entered the room, she stopped a guard who was passing by.

"Did you see Eugene this morning?" she asked. The young guard nodded and grinned slightly.

"I did, your highness. Mr. Fitzherbert arrived late for training this morning. The captain was furious and told him to do extra-work; you could call it a kind of detention. Well, we all know he never liked Eugene much."

Rapunzel sighed relieved and smiled at the young man gratefully. "Thank you very much for the information."

The guard bowed and replied "You're welcome, your Highness", then he walked away. Rapunzel was obliviously happier when she entered the dining room to eat her lunch with her parents. After lunch, there was still one and a half hour spare time until she had to attend on her next lessons. She spent the time on the corridor, waiting for Eugene. After a while, she finally heard hurried steps.

"Rapunzel!" It was his voice! She glanced around the corner where she had been standing for a while and watched how he stormed into the dining room. She smiled. He seemed to want to find her really bad. She looked at Pascal who had been sitting on her shoulder the whole time. He nodded encouragingly. Slowly she walked towards the large double doors which parted the dining room and the corridor. When she had almost reached them, she saw how Eugene stepped out of the dining room. He seemed to be disappointed. This disappointment turned to surprise when he saw her. They looked into each other's eyes, but no one said a word. It was Rapunzel who broke the silence: "You called me?"

She saw how he nodded. She was still hurt and sad that he hadn't told her anything, but she wanted to make up with him again and looked at him full of expectation. She heard how he said that he needed to talk to her.

"About what you have done?" They both knew that was the reason, but somehow she had to help him starting. She watched Eugene nodding again, but then he didn't seem to know what to say. He paused and ran his hand through his dark brown hair, as she had seen many times when he was nervous or pensive. At that moment it was probably both of it. The whole time she looked at him quietly and calmly. She didn't want to make him nervous, but now he should say something.

"I'm sorry that I haven't told you about it. But I was just trying to protect you and you know it." She knew he meant it well. But if it weren't for her tears, he would have ended up in his own grave the last time he wanted to protect her. She loved him with all her heart and was grateful that he wanted to help her, but he exaggerated it. With him, she would have felt safe enough, even if he had told her what had happened. He also knew that she expected the people who were close to her to be honest.

"Eugene, you know that I don't ask you to do much, but especially YOU should know how important honesty is to me."

"I tried to defend the person I love more than anything else. And therefore you're mad at me?" he replied slightly stroppy. This made her a little angry. Of course she was mad! But more than that she was hurt and disappointed and therefore he should rather apologize than to blame her.

"I can take care of myself. And when two criminals who wanted to kill the person I love are on the loose in OUR kingdom, I want to know it!" She wanted to tell him with this phrase that she partly acted like this out of concern for him because she realized that she had risked his life with the trip to the Snuggly Duckling. But he did not seem to notice it.

"That's why I knew you would worry! I didn't want you to be afraid!" Rapunzel felt like he had slapped her right in the face. Of course she knew he would never do anything to her, but he had never yelled at her either. But in addition to this little shock it also made her angry. He had no reason to act like this!

"I'm rather afraid than being lied to! It would probably be the best if you stopped talking!" Without the slightest intention to listen to his answer, she picked up her skirts and lifted it a bit to avoid tripping over the fabric and ran away. She knew she wasn't allowed to run because she was a princess, but she didn't care. She didn't stop running until she reached her room. Sad, she threw herself on her bed and buried her face in her blanket. She already felt the first tears rolling down her cheeks.

Suddenly she heard a soft noise. She lifted her head and saw Pascal who snuggled into her arms and had turned to a dark blue color as he always did when she was sad. She wiped her tears from her eyes and took Pascal carefully in her hands.

"Pascal, why does he do that?" she asked softly. But the chameleon just shrugged and looked at her helplessly. He couldn't explain what had gotten into the otherwise so nice Eugene. The only thing Pascal knew was that he had to be there for his friend.

Rapunzel walked pensively on her balcony from which she had a good view at the lake. She remembered how she and Eugene had been sitting there in a boat. Everything had been perfect. She would always remember the first time when she fulfilled her dream of watching the lanterns. He had been the one who made her dream complete. And she wouldn't forget the second time, either. It had been the perfect moment for a proposal. Sighing she looked at the ring that had once belonged to Lilian Fitzherbert. From there her glance turned to Pascal.

"Do you think he will someday be the old one again?" she asked her best friend. The chameleon nodded optimistically, although he didn't know it for sure. Rapunzel had still traces of tears on her cheeks, but she was determined not to let anyone know. Even if the wound Eugene's concealment had left had become deeper after this argument.

At dinner, they saw each other again. Rapunzel glanced in his direction when she stepped through the door and saw him sitting at the table, but she turned her gaze quite quickly. Trying not to look at him she sat down at her usual chair next to him and began to talk with her parents until dinner was served.

And then, in the middle of the dinner, she suddenly heard him speaking. It was just a quiet "Rapunzel, I…", but she couldn't help looking at him. She was still very hurt by his behavior, especially because it was a mix of disappointment that he had lied to her or better, that he had concealed the truth from her and because of the shock that he had yelled at her. But she still hoped that he prepared a good excuse.

But what he said was very disappointing. Eugene just looked at her for a few moments and at last he muttered: "Nothing, nevermind." She nodded sadly and turned her gaze away. The only thing she could say was "Okay". How could she dare to expect that he would apologize? Did he even plan to do it?

They spent the rest of the dinner and silence and Rapunzel didn't even dare to look in Eugene's direction. Sadder than before the meal she bid her parents goodnight and left the dining room to be alone. She had already took a few steps when she heard Eugene calling her name. She stopped. She wondered what he wanted from her now. She turned around slowly and looked at him through the dark. "I need to talk to you" he said.

"About what?"

She knew it and he said it again. He told her that he wanted to tell her everything. That he knew he had hurt her. And he ended with the words "I'm sorry." But did he really know how she felt? Had he any idea how important honesty was to her? Did he really want to tell her? She doubted it.

"Eugene, I understand you. But what you did really hurt me." Nothing hurt as much as the lies of a loved one. And to conceal something on purpose was almost the same as lying to her.

"Will you forgive me sometime?"

She wanted, but she couldn't, at least not in this moment. She needed some time to think about everything. "I need time, Eugene. Please wait a while" she begged him hopeful and was relieved when he agreed. She had thought that he wanted to convince her to forgive him, but he didn't do so. But the silence that fell over them in the next moment was terrible. She absolutely didn't know what to say to him now. She had no idea how they should tear down the invisible wall between them.

Finally Rapunzel couldn't take it any longer. She had to leave to be alone. She looked at him and said that she had to sleep now, the next day her uncle would visit them.

She saw in the dim light how Eugene nodded and heard him agree. And then he said the words she liked so much to hear him say to hear. "I love you."

But at this moment even this sign of affection was too much for her. She swallowed and bade him a quick goodnight, and then they hurried away. Tears welled in her eyes. How did that happen to them? What had they done? It was only when she reached the corner and was sure that he could not hear, when she whispered: "I love you too." And she didn't want to lose him, never ever. But at the moment it seemed as if something had been destroyed between them of which she did not know how they should fix it again.

* * *

><p>With a deep sigh, Eugene turned to his other side and squeezed his eyelids tightly together. No matter how he lay down, he was simply unable to sleep. Not after everything that had happened in the past few hours. Before his inner eyes, he watched everything again. The argument, the scene after dinner. He was such an idiot!<p>

Afflicted, he opened his eyes and sat up. One hand ran through his tousled dark brown hair. His eyes wandered through the dark room which was only lightened slightly by the moonlight. Beside him he could see a night table with a candle on it, on the other side he sensed the schemes of his wardrobe, which, of course, was much smaller than Rapunzels, and the remaining furniture. In the moonlight he could see the door to the balcony. Everything was as it always was, and yet at the moment everything was falling apart.

Determined, he rolled back his blanket and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He shuddered slightly as his feet touched the cool floor. Without losing much time, he got up and walked to the door. He had to talk to Rapunzel, immediately. Cautiously he opened the dark oak door and peered out into the hallway, which he found empty to his luck. He quietly left his room and shut the dark with as little noise. Of course he was allowed to go wherever he wanted, but he didn't want to know what would happen if someone saw him sneaking around in the middle of the night.

As fast as he could he moved through the dark corridors. At that moment, it was good that he knew the way to Rapunzels room blindly. For the formerly most wanted thief of the kingdom it would be quite embarrassing if he lost all his skills completely in less than one and a half years. Although he pressed himself against the wall each time he saw a guard and didn't dare to breathe until they were gone, he reached Rapunzels door without being noticed.

Eugene stared at the door. Briefly he considered knocking, but probably Rapunzel was sleeping anyway. When he heard steps echoing through the corridors, he hastily opened the door and slipped inside the room. He pulled the door shut behind him and looked around. Rapunzels room was constructed similar to his. He quickly discovered his girlfriend. She lay in bed and was apparently sleeping peacefully, but when he came closer, he saw traces of tears on her face. Had he previously felt awful, so became his feelings of guilt now much worse.

"I'm so sorry" he whispered. What had he done to her? He should protect her and make her happy, but instead he did everything wrong and made her cry. But now she slept and he didn't want to make her suffer more by waking her. She probably didn't want to see him anyway.

He went backwards and wanted to go. But suddenly he felt how he tripped and heard a loud clatter. After he met the floor in a very rough way as he did so very often in his life, he looked for the reason of his meeting with the floor and saw to paint buckets. He supposed Rapunzel left them there. Eugene just hope he didn't awake her. He hurriedly got up and made hasty steps towards the door.  
>"Who's there?" asked a sleepy voice that made the caught Eugene stop. He turned to the bed and said quietly: "It's me, Eugene. Don't worry, I will leave. Go back to sleep." He continued going towards the door, but her soft voice made him stop again.<p>

"No. Please stay. "He turned around again and saw that she sat up. He slowly crossed the room and sat down beside her on the bed. He watched how the moonlight reflected in her eyes and thought about what he should tell her.

"Why are you here?" She looked into his eyes which had a sincerely apologetic expression and thought she knew what he wanted to tell her. The faint beginnings of a small smile surrounded the corners of her mouth. She had had enough time to think about what they did and although she had shed more than one tear, she was ready to forgive him.

Eugene sighed and Rapunzel felt how he took her small hands in his. He said quietly but forcefully: "I need to tell you how endlessly sorry I am. I don't know what was going on with me today. Perhaps the too short sleep made me go crazy, I don't know. I never should have said this to you. And I should have told you about the escape right after I learned about it. But I was afraid everything could happen again. I love you more than anything and I don't want to lose you ever. I would do EVERYTHING to turn back time."

She looked at him touched. She could see he meant what he had just said. Everything she did in respond was whispering "I love you" and returning the kiss he gave her with a smile. She put her arms gently around his neck, run her fingers through his hair at the back of his head and enjoyed the kiss with her whole being. So she was very surprised when he suddenly stopped the kiss violently panting.

"What's wrong?" she asked confused.

Eugene grinned his characteristic grin and replied: "For two reasons: firstly, I don't want to risk having someone catch me in the middle of the night in your room. It would just lead to wrong thoughts."

She had to admit he was right. Curiously, she asked for the second reason. Eugene smirked broadly and answered: "I don't think I have such a great self-control that I can sit here in your bed with you and just kiss you." Rapunzel blushed and she nodded with rosy cheeks.

"Yeah, I think you should go. Good night." She smiled when he kissed her on the cheek once more and got up from bed. He went to the door with a happy smile on his face, but he stopped when he heard her calling his name. She still sat in her bed, grinning at him.

"If you conceal something again or if you lie to me, you get to feel my frying pan, okay?"

He grinned. "Alright."

Both of them smiled when he closed the door.


	7. Royal visitors

**I know I let you wait for a long time. But I had to figure out a few things before I could go on with writing. But I think you will be surprised at the end of the chapter.**

**Before you start reading, I want to thank two people: _sarahhaley, _my fantastic new beta reader, and _MydniteShadow1996_, who came up with the idea of _sarahhaley _being my beta reader. So, I assume there isn't more to tell. Start reading and have fun!**

* * *

><p>The next morning, everyone noticed immediately that everything was fine again between Eugene and Rapunzel. They entered the dining room hand in hand, as if nothing ever happened. When the king asked why there was suddenly peace again, they just smiled. They preferred keeping the secret of their late meeting for themselves. It would get Eugene into trouble.<p>

They had just finished breakfast when King Peter announced, "By the way, you will have no lessons today and tomorrow. My brother in law and his family will arrive this afternoon and I want you two to visit the town with us tomorrow." Rapunzel, who was smoothing her turquoise skirts at this moment, looked up anxiously.

"But father, what about the Stabbingtons?"A legitimate question. Her whole family would be in danger. She and Eugene were the targets, but she didn't want her parents or other relatives to get hurt.

Eugene looked at Rapunzel and frowned. What was happening in this moment was exactly what he had feared. She was worried. Normally, she loved visiting the town and never missed a chance to go there.

"Don't worry, there will be enough guards," Queen Susan answered, smiling reassuringly. She was worried, too, but despite everything that happened in the past, she trusted the guards.

"Wow, what a comforting thought," Eugene commented sarcastically. But he didn't want the guards, who were of course in this room, to be mad at him, so he spoke very quietly. Rapunzel was the only one who heard it. She grinned, but stayed silent. Her gaze turned to her parents again.  
>"Why didn't Uncle Gregory visit us before?" Many people travelled to the palace after she had returned home, including many different relatives. But her Uncle, his wife and their children, according to Rapunzel's Mother a boy and two girls, had never been here before.<p>

"His kingdom is situated on an island, very far away from here. So he can't leave often and comes along quiet rarely," her mother replied, her smile becoming a little sad. She would be happy if her brother visited her and her family more often. But he had to watch over the kingdom where he, she and their younger siblings grew up.

"What is he like?"

King Peter smiled. "It would be the best if you get to know him yourself. Oh, and his daughter Rosalin is about your age. Ginger is fifteen and Harry is seventeen, as far as I know. Maybe you two get along well with them, " he explained and smiled at his daughter and Eugene.

Both nodded. Due to the fact that Rapunzel was a princess and Eugene her future husband, they didn't have many friends their age. They liked the other princesses and princes like Tiana, Belle, Cinderella, Dimitri, Eric and the others, but it wasn't possible to visit them often. After all, their kingdoms were far away from Corona. It would be good to meet other young adults.

"I'm really looking forward to meet them. When will they arrive?" Rapunzel asked eagerly. Her eyes had this curious shimmer again that Eugene loved so much. He couldn't help but noticed once again how much he had fallen for her.

King Peter smiled and answered, "Their arrival is planned for the early afternoon. So you and Eugene have some free time. Do whatever you please. Your mother and I will take care of everything." With these words, Eugene and Rapunzel were allowed to go. They decided to go to the library. At this time of the morning they would hardly meet someone there, so they could talk without being disturbed.

A while later they sat in the aforementioned area in two armchairs. The library was a very peaceful place; in the air was a smell of old and new books which could be found in the many shelves that nearly reached the ceiling. Rapunzel often spent many hours here, when her time allowed her to. She wanted to read as many books as possible. In the first eighteen years of her life she read only three books, after all. Therefore her thirst for knowledge was almost immeasurable now.

But Eugene was here every now and then, too. Usually, he read _The Tales of Flynnigan Rider_. He had been very surprised when he found it in the library because he would have never thought any king or queen would let their children read it.

In the rays of sun that fell through the windows danced fluff. The little dust flakes swirled around the other ones and floated up and down. But Eugene and Rapunzel didn't even look at the pretty sight. They were busy with their conversation. When it ended, the silence didn't make them feel uncomfortable. In the right moment, being quiet could be a very nice thing. Just one wrong word would ruin everything.

The words Rapunzel chose weren't wrong, at least not in her eyes. But Eugene would have preferred if she hadn't started talking about that kind of thing.

"Do you feel uncomfortable because my family visits us?" It was an innocent question, but Eugene started to feel and see a few things he would rather not remember. He frowned, looking at her confused.

"What makes you think that, darling?"

Rapunzel giggled. _Darling_. He had never said that before. Usually, he called her ´Blondie` or, once in a while, ´Goldie`. But when she giggled, he just looked even more confused, so he had probably talked without thinking about what he said. She shook her head, smiling. He could call her darling if he wanted. She liked it.

"Your face just has this strange expression whenever my parents speak about their visit," she answered his question. She knew her Eugene very well. It was difficult to notice the tiny tension of his muscles and the change of the expression of his eyes when someone spoke of their relatives. The typical expression when he thought about something bad. And unfortunately, there weren't many nice things Eugene could remember.

"I don't know much about the rest of my family. My mother had two siblings, but her sister died when I was an infant. I don't know why. And her older brother had been seriously injured in some war, so he wasn't able to care for a little child. I have no idea if he's still alive."A deep sigh escaped Eugene's throat. His family seemed really out of luck.

"I don't know anything about my father's family. The only thing I can remember is that he has an older sister. But she obviously didn't want me." He gritted his teeth and Rapunzel could see how his jaw muscles tensed. His gaze became hard and distant and he tried to control the upcoming feeling of anger. How could anyone let their nephew be taken to the orphanage instead of caring for him?

"Why not?" He looked into Rapunzel's innocent, green eyes. She watched him with a worried expression. How could she still be so concerned about him? How could she still be there without asking although he already bothered her with so many of his stupid family stories? Did he really deserve her? Her kindness and her willingness to sacrifice anything for him? Her love?

He sighed. Because he didn't understand why he had such luck and to answer Rapunzel's question. His broad shoulders rose and fell. He didn't know what to answer. No one ever told him his aunt's reasons. He had been a child, after all. Helpless, hopeless, desperate and very, very sad and lonely.

"I honestly don't know, Blondie. She didn't even bother with visiting me. I don't want to meet her. Ever." There it was again, this hard expression which had been replaced by the emotions he felt as a child. Rapunzel didn't like it.

She smiled at him brightly, trying to give his thoughts a happier direction. "But you can try. I will ask my father if he is alright so send men in order to search her, then you could-"

"No!" The word echoed through the empty library, the sound of his voice was sharp and piercing. His facial expression almost frightened her a bit for one moment. He didn't look evil, but she wasn't used to see him that furious. Only a few moments later, his face and his gaze softened again. Again he said quietly, "No."

Rapunzel looked at him calmly. She knew her Eugene. He didn't want to harm anybody; he just wasn't very good at controlling his anger. All the young princess could do was waiting until he wanted to speak. She couldn't force him. So she just went over to him, sat down on one of the armrests. She smiled at him, encouragingly. Silence was between them for minutes. One, two. Then, he began to speak.

"I don't think I want to meet her. She is a bad person. No one who lets the only child of their dead brother grow up in an orphanage can be a good person," he muttered. Rapunzel looked at him more closely, studying his angry but yet sad features. She leaned her head against his chest so she could feel his heart beating and asked very quietly, "Like thieves can't be good people?"

He knew what she was trying to say. "I've never said that I am a good person! I have done many things which weren't right. You don't even want to know how many." And he regretted every mistake he made. Well, most of them.

Rapunzel smiled triumphantly, but he couldn't see it because her face was turned away from him. "But everyone forgave you. Try to forgive your aunt, too."

He wanted to contradict. She couldn't compare these two things. However, a picture flickered before his mind's eye. The picture of a certain tiara, made out of pure gold which artfully encircled three diamond and many small gems. A tiara which was currently lying only a few centimeters away from him. It had been the only thing Rapunzel's parents had left of their daughter, besides their memories. They had missed her for eighteen years. And he had taken the tiara away. He thought that was nearly as mean as not caring for the child of a family member. Or even worse.  
>He began to ponder about everything and became silent.<p>

* * *

><p>Just in time, all four of them stood before the palace doors, looking down at the courtyard. They could hear the sound of the horses' hooves and knew that they would soon be able to see the carriage. Rapunzel seemed to be the only one who was really nervous, although she seemed to be very happy.<p>

"Do you think they'll like me?" she asked Eugene, who stood beside her. He let his gaze slide down on her. The wide skirt of her dress was turquoise and rippled slightly with every slight gust of wind. Her corset was dark blue, a nice contrast to the other color. The white sleeves only reached a little past her elbow. The dress was pretty, she was beautiful, and in addition to her looks she had a personality that captivated everyone. He didn't see what her problem was.

He looked at her, seriously. "No." She was shocked at this, but before she had time to be really worried about what he said, he started to grin broadly. "They will not like, but love you, Blondie. Everyone loves you. Trust me."

"But you love me most?" she asked, grinning as well.

"'Course I do" Eugene replied and placed a kiss on her hair. She smiled happily. He gripped her hand and squeezed it lightly. Their fingers entwined while they stood there, still waiting.

Finally, the carriage arrived on the courtyard. It stopped near the stairs which led up to where Rapunzel stood with Eugene and her parents. The driver jumped off his place and quickly opened the doors of the carriage. Rapunzel looked down from the balcony, curiously and expectantly.

The first one who got out was a man around the age of her father, maybe a little older. His hair was brown, slightly lighter than hers or her mother's. He was a smaller than Eugene and her father and he enjoyed his food. That was clearly apparent by his round figure.

The next person seemed to be her aunt. Her curly hair shimmered red in the sunlight, which was quite bright for it being fall. Her aunt was much thinner and a little smaller than her husband.  
>Her cousins got out after her. The older girl had light brown hair, while her younger sister's was dark. Both were not particularly slender or thick, pretty normal, to say it this way. Her brother, who was the last one, seemed to be the only one who had inherited his mother's hair color. He wasn't that muscular, but not totally slim.<p>

All five went up the stair together to meet their relatives. Rapunzel's parents smiled at them welcomingly. Rapunzel and Eugene stood beside them, still holding hands, and smiled, too.

"Greg, how nice to see you again!" Susan greeted her older brother and went the last steps in his direction, smiling widely and happily. She gave him a short peck on his cheek. It was her brother, after all, and she had really missed him.

Peter shook his brother-in-law's hand. "Welcome to Corona. All of you, of course." He smiled at Greg's wife and their children.

Rapunzel and Eugene stayed where they were while their parents welcomed the visitors. Rapunzel used the time to take a closer look at her relatives. All of them had green eyes. Her uncle, Harry, and Ginger shared the shade of green her eyes had, the soul mirrors of her aunt and Rosalin were darker.

Her cousins seemed to watch her and Eugene, too, but the adults didn't look at them until they were done with exchanging questions like "How are you doing?"

Gregory smiled at them. "Ah, then you must be Rapunzel" he said. His voice was almost as deep as her father's, but he spoke with a slight accent. A sign that he came from further away. Her mother sometimes spoke like this, too, but not very often. She nodded and watched how her uncle looked at Eugene. He seemed surprised; he probably hadn't expected anyone to be there beside her and her parents.

"That's Eugene, Rapunzel's fiancé" Susan explained, smiling. He raised an eyebrow, but then began to smile, too. He was surprised that his sister and her husband didn't mind that Rapunzel would get married that soon. She hadn't even been home a year and a half, after all. But he knew he could ask for more details later.

"Well, hello." He shook Eugene's hand and smiled at him and Rapunzel again. "As you probably know, I'm King Gregory, and this is my wife Katharina. And these three are our children, Ginger, Rosalin, and Harry. But I'm sure Susan and Peter have told you about us, " he explained, grinning at the last sentence. While he spoke he pointed at each person he was speaking of. First his wife, then his youngest daughter, then at the oldest one and his son. All of them smiled politely and bowed slightly.

Queen Katharina was the only one who didn't move. Instead, she looked at them with a very strange expression. Her eyes seemed to be fixed on Eugene and she eyes him from head to toe. His eyes, his features, his whole appearance. The future Prince Consort began to feel a little uncomfortable.

He cleared his throat. "Excuse me, your highness, but is there a specific reason why you are staring at me like that?" The queen seemed to awake from her trance and shook her head while the others stared at her with confused eyes.

"No. You just look a lot like someone I knew once," she replied, blushing slightly. Eugene kept looking at her for a moment, but then he shrugged. Dark hair and brown eyes weren't that rare in this kingdom.

It wasn't long until this incident was completely forgotten. There was too much everyone wanted to tell and ask. They went into one of the large rooms of the palace and sat down to talk for a while. Only a few minutes later, everyone was busy with answering or asking questions. Rapunzel was talking with her two female cousins.

Eugene was right. With her happy, friendly way of talking and smiling it was easy to become friends with them.

"I wonder why your daughter is already engaged, Peter. What happened?" Gregory wanted to know, stroking his beard. "I thought she hasn't been at home for long." If his two girls had been missing for so long, he wouldn't let them get married so quickly.

Peter leaned back in his chair. He thought about it for a moment before he answered, "Eugene is the one who brought us Rapunzel back. The two fell in love and I wouldn't forbid Rapunzel to marry him if it makes her happy."

"Where have you been all those years, Rapunzel?" Queen Katharina asked and looked at Rapunzel, a little curious.

Rapunzel quietly cleared her throat. The woman who had kidnapped me locked me in a tower deep in the forest. She acted as if she were my real mother. But the only thing she wanted was my hair."

Although she said the last sentence quietly, the others heard it. Everyone except Eugene, Peter and Susan seemed to be very confused.

"Your hair?" Ginger asked, frowning.

Rapunzel nodded. Then she explained, "My hair used to have magic powers when it was blonde. But to save me, Eugene cut it. Therefore, it became brown, and now, the magic is gone." The five faces of her relatives had a disbelieving expression, but she couldn't change how things were now. There was no to prove the magic her hair contained once.

There were a few moments of silence in the whole room. Glances that pleaded for help hit Susan, Peter, Eugene and Rapunzel, but all of them just shrugged and nodded. Thing were how they were.

Harry started the conversation again. He cleared his throat to break the silence, which made them all feel uncomfortable, and asked, "How did you find the tower, Eugene? As the first one after eighteen years?" He looked at Eugene, really interested in hearing the story.

But the ex-thief shrugged. "It was a coincidence. I was looking for a place to hide and stumbled over it, " he replied. He skipped the part with the stolen crown on purpose. But he didn't notice how the door, which was behind his back, opened while he was speaking.

"Why did you look for a place to hide in the middle of a forest?" Greg wanted to know. Eugene thought about what to answer, but someone else spoke faster than him.

"Because he is a miserable thief." Eugene, Rapunzel and even the King and the Queen turned around in surprise. Shock was written over their faces. They looked at the Captain who entered the room, showing a well-hidden, evil grin.

However, Gregory, Katharina and their children seemed confused. "What?" For one moment, they looked at the Captain, who still grinned, and then at their relatives, who still looked shocked. Then Katharina asked softly, "Is that true?"

Susan nodded in resignation. Actually, each of them wanted to stay silent about this part of Eugene's past. But now it was too late. They didn't want to lie. That wouldn't solve anything. She sighed and looked at her big brother and his family. "Yes, it's true. But he stopped thieving after he met Rapunzel."

Greg looked at his sister and her family in disbelief. His sister looked embarrassed and seemed to feel uncomfortable; Peter tried to keep an emotionless face. Rapunzel's eyes had an expression of shock and disbelief and Eugene wanted to do two things: disappearing at once or hurt the Captain vary badly. The one who started the whole mess, the Captain, seemed to be very content.

"You let your daughter marry a _thief_?" Greg finally asked. His sister didn't have an answer on this question. The Captain watched the whole situation and spoke instead of the Queen.

"I don't want to disturb this little tragedy, your Highness, but I need to talk with you and Rider. There is news about the Stabbington Brothers."

Eugene clenched his fists. Oh, how much he hated this man! "Fitzherbert!" he managed to say, his voice shaking from suppressed anger. The Captain turned his head in Eugene's direction and looked at him in surprise.

"What?"

"My name. It's Fitzherbert, not Rider." Eugene looked at the Captain with angry sparkling eyes. The Captain slightly backed up when he saw the pure hatred. Everyone's gaze was fixed on both men, so no one noticed how Katharina's face became very pale.

The Captain shrugged. Then he left the room after King Peter had promised that he would go and talk to him later. In the room remained eight people whose emotions were totally disorganized.

"Katharina, dearest, why are you so pale all of sudden?" King Gregory asked suddenly. Katharina's gaze was so fixed on Eugene that he began to feel more uncomfortable again.

"Eugene Fitzherbert." Her voice was shaking. She seemed hardly able to continue speaking. Her lip was slightly trembling when she asked, "Excuse my question, but was your father's name Thomas?"

Eugene looked at her completely perplexed. He nodded kind of mechanically. There was no way how she could know that. That was creepy. "How do you know that?" he asked, trying not to freak out.

Katharina looked at her folded hands. "He was my brother."


	8. Found

**I'm sorry. I know, that's a pathetic apology, but all I can say to defend me is that I've been busy with video editing lately. You find a link to my YouTube channel on my profile page. But I shouldn't be bothering you with all this. So have fun reading the chapter. **

**Found**

For a moment, everything was absolutely quiet. It One could literally feel how the air thickened with tension when everyone looked at Katharina. No one really knew how to feel. Horror, astonishment, surprise, shock? Still, everything was silent. Katharina herself seemed to feel very helpless and guilty.

Then suddenly the silence broke and everyone started talking at the same time. No one could tell who had uttered what.

"What?"

"Impossible!"

"But then you are his aunt!"

"But then he is your nephew!"

"He is our cousin!"

"Tell me that's not true!"

"But why?"

Those were only a few of the sentences which were thrown into what had been silence just one moment before. Only two people hadn't spoken. The first person was Katharina, who didn't know what to say. The other one was Eugene. He looked at Katharina, then at everything around him and started to breathe harder and harder while his eyes widened. Rapunzel, who had turned to him to check if he was okay, knew these signs.

Quickly she put her hands on his cheeks and looked deep into his eyes. "Eugene, don't freak out! Calm down, it's all right! Come on, breathe slower!" she said, knowing that he would probably listen to her.

And so he did. Eugene looked into her calming eyes. He saw her reassuring smile and did what she had told him. Gradually, his hard breathing became slower and he calmed himself down. His eyes closed for a moment. When he opened them again, his glance was as clear as always. Rapunzel smiled worriedly.

"Are you all right?"

Eugene simply nodded. Once more, he looked around. The room had gotten more quietly, but he noticed that everyone looked at him, then at Katharina. And then at him again. They seemed to look for some kind of similarity between them. Eugene swallowed hard.

His aunt. The person he didn't want to meet ever again. He looked at Rapunzel who was still stroking his cheeks tenderly. Her concerned gaze was still concentrated at him. Somehow she managed to give him some faith just with being there.

"Eugene, I'm sorry. Please let me explain."

And then the faith was gone again. Eugene looked up. It was Katharina who had spoken. She looked as if she knew he couldn't forgive her for what she had done even though wanted to get things right. But Eugene didn't want to listen to her at the moment, even if he could. It was too much for him.

He didn't know how he got on his feet that fast. "No, I don't want to hear your explanations

Rapunzel winced, though he hadn't spoken to her. Why was his voice so cold? That wasn't the Eugene she knew! Katharina hadn't even started to explain. She was sure Katharina had a good reason…

But, of course, he was hurt. She had to talk to him about it. But Eugene had already left the room. Only his words still hung over their heads.

"I'm sorry, but I need to be alone now."

It was at that moment Rapunzel was able think clearly again. Everything had happened so fast. One moment she had heard Katharina's confession, and then she had been busy with calming Eugene down. She remembered their conversation in the library and knew there was only one thing she could do now: being there for him.

Rapunzel rose from her chair and looked at the rest of her family. "I will follow him. He shouldn't be _all_ alone now." Her mother nodded understandingly and they watched her leaving the room. Everyone else stayed were they were.

"Wouldn't it be better if someone helped her?" Rosalin asked timidly. But her uncle, Rapunzel's father, shook his head.

"No, I doubt he want anyone to disturb him now. If there is anyone that is able to get to him, it's my daughter" he explained and looked towards the door with a thoughtful expression. Although he knew Eugene trusted him and his wife, Rapunzel was surely the only one who knew anything about his family.

Gregory looked at his wife, who sat there with a sheepish expression and tried to meet no one's glance. He laid one hand on her arm. Startled, she winced and finally looked at him.

"Kat, I think you should explain it to us."

"Yes, mother. I think that's what we all want now," Harry agreed, nodding. Everyone got a little more attentive and looked at Katharina, who nodded and sat up straight. It would surely be relieving to let it all out. Her voice was still a little thin and tremulous when she started to speak, but it got more confidently the longer she talked.

She sighed deeply. The words had to form in her head before she could utter them loudly. "Eugene was born before Gregory and I got married. I didn't even know Gregory back then. The first time we met was one and a half years later. Greg's father knew mine; they used to go hunting together."

"Ah, I remember. My father was looking for a wife for my brother and so they arranged a meeting between you two," Susan uttered.

"Yes. And we got along quite nicely, so they decided we should marry."

"By that time, we had just started to fall in love. But your brother was death delayed our marriage," Greg said and looked at Katharina to check out if he was right. She nodded and fiddled with the sleeves of her dress, still feeling uncomfortable.

"Right. My dear little brother," She began to smile lovingly, but her face soon turned sad. "He married his Lillian because he loved her, even though he knew my father wanted him to marry a richer woman. And Thomas wanted me to marry for love, too. We began to argue about it." She sighed again. She wanted so badly to take back some of the things she said to him, but she knew it was impossible. He was dead.

"It was a bad argument and that's how we parted. He said if I married Greg, I wouldn't need to ever come back. He said that because he was angry. He was always the one with the short temper. But I was determined to fulfill my duty and just left. One or two months after Greg and I got married I received the news that Thomas had been killed. I felt horrible." She swallowed. She hadn't even got the chance to make up with her brother and that she loved him despite everything that happened.

Everyone stayed silent and let the words sink in. That was until Greg looked at his wife with a encouraging smile on his face and asked: "You travelled here soon after you got that letter, didn't you?"

"I did. And I found Lilian devastated. She and Thomas loved each other very much. Eugene had just turned two by that time and I assume that's why he doesn't remember me. I helped Lilian a little and tried to comfort her. In the beginning it worked, but I couldn't travel here often because I had duties as a Queen. A few years later, Lilian died and Eugene was all alone."

"Why didn't you two take care of Eugene?" Susan asked cautiously and looked at her sister-in-law with questioning eyes. Tears of remorse threatened to fill Katharina's eyes, but she stayed strong and held them back.

"I wanted to. But Lilian died because of the disease your country suffered from." She didn't need to continue. Peter knew exactly what she was talking about.

"No one was allowed to enter or leave the kingdom without an important reason. We didn't want the disease to spread over to other kingdoms," he recalled. So many people had died. His wife and Rapunzel had almost been two of them.

"Right. And when I could have started to look for him, I was pregnant and unable to travel such a distance. After Rosalin was born, I tried to find him, but without success. I didn't think I would see him ever again," Katharina finished the story quietly. She knew Eugene probably hated her for what she had done to him and that it wouldn't be easy to make him forgive her.

"I have no idea how to make him see how sorry I am," she added. Her children, her husband and Rapunzel's parents looked at her sympathetically. King Peter and Queen Susan would have loved to say something comforting, but they knew just how stubborn Eugene could be if he wanted to. This definitely wasn't going to be easy.

In the meantime, Rapunzel was already confronted with the first wave of Eugene's anger. Really annoyed, she stood at the door to his room and knocked against it. "Eugene Fitzherbert, let me in! At once!" she shouted and didn't even try to keep her voice down. She didn't care about the astonished glances that were shot at her by the people who worked here.

"I won't if you want to persuade me to talk to her." was his reply, muffled because of the door. Rapunzel groaned, now even more annoyed. She pounded her fists against the wooden door and pushed the door handle, but it didn't work.

"You HAVE to talk to her! She belongs to the family!" she tried it again. But once again the answer was "No". Why did Eugene have to be so darn stubborn?

Rapunzel continued pounding against the door and stomped with one foot, starting to get angry. "Eugene! She is your aunt! Come out and stop acting like a child!" She didn't even notice she acted like a child, too. She didn't go away until she heard the sound she had longed for. A key that turned in the lock.

"Finally!" she wanted to shout, but she didn't. Within a few seconds Eugene had unlocked the door, opened it, grabbed his future wife and closed the door again. He looked at her with a serious face.

"Do you want the entire palace to know that she's my aunt? You know that the servants love gossip!" he grumbled and rolled his eyes as if it was obvious that no one was allowed to know about it. And that was his exact opinion. But Rapunzel was confused by this.

"Why? What does it matter if they know it or not?"

Eugene let out a deep sigh, went to his bed and let himself fall on it. He closed his eyes, maybe a attempt to hide from reality. Rapunzel followed him and sat down, too. She took his hand and said to him with a soft tone.

"Eugene, what is it?"

He opened his eyes again, which looked at her worried and a little sad. "I worry about which effects this could have on our marriage," he explained. Rapunzel tilted her head. She hadn't thought about that yet.

"Do you think we're not allowed to get married now?"

Eugene merely shrugged. "I don't know," he answered quietly. They sat there in silence for a few moments, but then Rapunzel started talking again. She smiled.

"It will be fine. I will ask Mama and Father."

"I don't wanna lose you," he muttered. Rapunzel smiled at him; she wouldn't lose her optimism that easy.

"You won't. Never ever."

Eugene wasn't completely convinced, but nodded. He didn't want to show it, but he was really concerned. Somehow everything turned against them lately. At first the Stabbington brothers, then the argument, and now this. It didn't seem as if "Happily Ever After" was planned for them.

But Rapunzel wasn't done with her plan to make Eugene forgive his aunt. She waited only one or two minutes before she started talking about it again.

"Can't you even try to hear her out?"

Determined, he shook his head. With a now very strong voice he added: "You have no idea how terrible all those years in the orphanage were. She could have ended it." But one question didn't leave him alone. What did he do wrong? Why didn't she want him?

Much to his surprise, Rapunzel started to smile. He stared at her in confusion. "Why do you smile?" His past was definitely no reason to smile. It was more likely a reason to cry.

"I've just noticed something," she replied and smiled even more. "If she had taken care of you, you would have never become a thief and therefore never stolen my crown." She didn't need to go on. Eugene knew what she was thinking.

"And we would have never met." Amazed, he sat there for a moment without knowing what to say. She was right. They would have never met. But it didn't change his mind. Rapunzel sighed.

But before they got the chance to discuss about it again, someone knocked on the door and Rapunzel's parents entered the room. Quickly, Rapunzel and Eugene wanted to get up, but King Peter made a sign that they could stay where they were. Instead, he and his wife sat down beside them.

Rapunzel and Eugene looked at each other and then at Rapunzel's parents, worry plastered on their face. They didn't want to tell them that it was all over, did they? The two of them didn't want to lose each other again.

But Rapunzel's father could reassure them. He had supposed that this was the thing they wanted to know first. "Don't worry, your marriage isn't endangered. You're not related by blood, so no one can say anything against it."

"But it's better if only a few people know it" Queen Susan added. Rapunzel and Eugene sighed and nodded in relief. That was okay. But that didn't mean all of their problems were gone.

Together, Rapunzel's parents explained what they had heard from Katharina only minutes ago. Eugene looked kind of thoughtful at that. It seemed to have been a chain of unfortunate circumstances. But still, he wasn't sure if he should risk a talk. Rapunzel and her parents decided to let him have some time to think.

Although Katharina was there, Eugene attended dinner that night, and breakfast and lunch the next day. But he refused to talk to her. He even chose a seat as far away as possible from her seat. But Rapunzel noticed that he looked at his aunt a few times.

Soon after lunch, they made their way into the city. But instead of following the rest of the family, Rapunzel merely nodded in their direction, winked and pulled her fiancé in another direction. Eugene looked at her, confused again.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't answer, but her face was beaming with anticipation. Her eyes gleamed full of excitement, her lips were curved into a beautiful, joyful smile and her cheeks even had a little more color than usual. Eugene could only imagine that she had planned something very special.

"I want it to be a surprise. Just follow me," she announced. She grabbed his hand and led him to a small flower shop near the market place of Corona. It was a pretty little shop, flooded by sunlight which entered the shop through the large windows. On several tables, in the middle of the shop, there were many different kinds of flowers. It was a sea of colors.

The owner of the shop, an elder woman wearing a plain blue and brown dress, stood behind a counter in a corner of the room. Eugene was confused. What did Rapunzel want in here? Sure, she loved flowers, but there were plenty of them in the palace garden.

"My Princess," the saleswoman greeted Rapunzel, smiling brightly, and she bowed to her. The way she looked at Eugene was less welcoming. It was full of distrust and coldness. "Oh, and your future husband is here, too." Eugene sighed inwardly but he didn't say anything. There was no point in it anyway. He was used to the refusal of many citizens. And if he was honestly to himself, he couldn't blame them for that.

Rapunzel didn't let that have an impact on her good mood and greeted the woman with a friendly smile. Then she ordered a bouquet of different flowers, including roses, lilies and some evergreen. The woman did what she was asked for and, of course, Rapunzel paid her in exchange.

"Goodbye," Rapunzel said politely before they left.

"Goodbye, Your Highness. Your visit was an honor to me. I wish you a nice day." She didn't even look at Eugene when she said that. He showed pride and simply ignored her unfriendly behavior, though it made him angry.

Rapunzel linked arms with Eugene after they left the shop. With him in one arm and the bouquet in the other, she strolled through the sunlit streets of Corona. It seemed to be a good day, there were many people on the streets, chatting or buying things at the market. Almost everyone greeted friendly when the couple walked by and Rapunzel and Eugene replied politely.

"Rapunzel, where on earth are you going?" Eugene asked several times, more and more confused. But Rapunzel didn't answer until they reached the outskirts of the city.

"To the cemetery."

"To the cemetery?" Eugene answered, not half as excited as she was. Why did she want to go to the cemetery? That was the last place on Earth he wanted to visit now. But Rapunzel was merciless and continued walking. She nodded.

"Yes. I asked my father to find out where your parents are buried. You said you forgot it because you were to small back then. And now, that's where we are going," she explained patiently. Eugene was speechless. She was right that he had a lack of memories about that issue, but that she really invested her time to do that…

He shook his head. "You are incredible," he murmured, but started smiling, too. "Thank you."

After a few minutes of walking, they had reached their destination. The cemetery was very old; it had already been built by the time Rapunzel's great-grandfather was the ruler of this kingdom. And that fact could clearly be seen. Many of the tombstones were weathered and here and there were parts that were crumbled. Nevertheless, everything looked as if it was regularly taken care of.

Slowly Rapunzel led Eugene down the rocky path until they reached two graves in the back of the cemetery. These tombstones seemed influenced by the weather, too, but the names of Eugene's parents could still be read.

Rapunzel looked at the unusually quiet Eugene and asked gently, "Do you want to put the flowers on the grave?" She reached out her hand with the bouquet and smiled softly. He nodded, took them and knelt down. Sad, he read the written words. In this moment he suddenly felt very guilty. He lowered his head in shame. Rapunzel knelt down beside him.

"Eugene, what's wrong?"

In this moment, the silence around them screamed louder than every spoken word. Eugene raised his head again and met Rapunzel's glance, his expression suffering, he response slow. He thought about the words he said. "They always wanted the best for me. And what did I do? I became a thief, without scruples and almost nothing that could stop me from what I had planned."

Rapunzel kissed his cheek. "Then tell them you're sorry. I'm sure they can hear you somehow."

Eugene had no idea why he did it, but he followed her advice. Carefully, he placed the bouquet on the grave and whispered "Mom, Dad…I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Rapunzel hugged him and leaned her head against his shoulder. Thankfully, he hugged her back.

For a while they just knelt there, but finally Eugene sighed and freed himself from her hug. "Let's go back." He stood up and reached out his hand for her, but she was quicker and stood up alone. Hand in hand, they made their way back to the gate, staying silent.

But about thirty feet away from it the two of them suddenly stopped.

"Oh no" Eugene couldn't help but say when he saw the persons that stood in front of them. He felt like his worst nightmares had come true. And he knew, this time, he wouldn't wake up in his bed, surrounded by the safety of the palace.

The Stabbington brothers had found them at last.


	9. An encouter with consequences

**Sorry it took so long. I've been busy and was on vacation and set up a new story (Bambi)...I can just repeat it: I'M SORRY!**

* * *

><p>„It's been a long time, Rider," said one of the red-headed brothers maliciously as he looked into Rapunzel's and Eugene's scared faces. Eugene tried to shove Rapunzel behind him so he could protect her better, but she refused to move.<p>

The four of them were all alone. The streets of Corona were so far away that no one would hear them if they called for help. And the cemetery that surrounded them didn't help to make the situation less tensed.

Rapunzel was afraid and angry at the same time. How could those ruffians even dare to destroy another emotional moment! While she and Eugene were on their way back to the kingdom after Gothel's death, he had told her about how they had framed him. She would never ever forgive them for what they had done to him. "What do you want from us?" she asked.

"Revenge," the brothers answered . Really, one of them added, though, as the other one never seemed to talk. "Revenge on Rider."

Eugene clenched his fists. He knew it wasn't the right moment, but why did they call him Rider? Everyone knew his name was Fitzherbert, for heaven's sake!

But there was something else that disturbed him. "Why to you seek revenge?" he hissed with an angry expression on his face. "I already lost my life because you framed me! What else do you want? Leave us alone!" All he wanted was a long, peaceful life with Rapunzel; what was so hard to understand about that?

"All this is _your _fault! If you hadn't let us down, none of this would have happened! _All of us_ would be rich now!" they answered immediately. Eugene couldn't believe what he had heard.

"If _you_ would have taken the crown when I gave it to you, you would be rich men and Rapunzel and I could live a peaceful life. But no, you had to trick me and threaten my fiancee's life," he said with increasing anger. It was their fault, not his.

The Stabbingtons grinned evilly. "Nice you mention it again. We still want her hair-"

"Which isn't magical anymore," Eugene and Rapunzel interrupted them at the same time. They had expected their enemies would say that, even though anyone could see that Rapunzel's hair had changed a lot.

"You're lying."

"No. Gothel surely told you that her blonde hair mustn't be cut. Well, I cut it the very next day after you tricked me. You are too late. There's nothing you can get here, so get lost." Eugene crossed his arms, tilted his head and looked at his enemies with a smug grin. He didn't show that he was just as afraid as Rapunzel.

But the blank faces of their enemies told them that they clearly didn't intend to leave. They had risked too much to get to this point. Eugene's heart sank like a stone. Rapunzel looked at him and raised an eyebrow. ´Did you really think that would work?, she seemed to ask silently.

Eugene answered her silent question with a shrug.

He sighed in despair. "So what do you want? Her hair isn't magical _and_you've had your revenge. And that aside…isn't it kinda the wrong place for an argument? This is a cemetery, after all." Maybe he would be able to convince them. But again, the Stabbingtons were stubborn.

"We don't care."

"I thought not," Eugene remarked dryly.

"And to answer your question," the talkative brother began, "She's much more than just a girl with magical hair…She's the princess." Greedily, the criminals stared at Rapunzel's crown.

Rapunzel swallowed nervously. In this moment, she really wished to be the peasant girl that she used to be before Eugene entered her life. Princesses seemingly had nothing but problems.

"And how does that help you?" she asked. She knew the answer, but she didn't want to believe this was really happening to her.

"Because we will get ransom money for you, princess."

"Over my dead body!" Now, Eugene placed himself before Rapunzel and didn't let her step beside him. Suddenly, his glance was murderous, his muscles tensed, his eyes narrowed. Those guys would never get Rapunzel. To do that, they would have to kill him first. He wasn't as afraid of dying as most people were. He had been dead once, after all.

"Don't you dare lay one finger on her, or else I will tear you into pieces!" he growled. His mind was searching desperately for a way to get out of this. But it was Rapunzel who had the idea that helped them. But before she could do anything, the Stabbington brothers clearly showed that they'd had enough.

"Over your dead body? That's possible."

They raised their swords, ready to finish him off. It seemed as if they wanted to get rid of him, first.

"I know what I do! _**Guards**_!" Rapunzel suddenly cried at the top of her lungs. Of course, no guard was to be seen anywhere around. Eugene promised himself to fire those amateurs as soon as Rapunzel was queen.

But the Stabbingtons had no idea that Rapunzel was using a simple trick to get away. Frantically, they looked around. Rapunzel grabbed Eugene's arm and dragged him away. He was surprised, but followed her.

She headed to a little chapel which stood near the edge of the cemetery. Eugene understood and ran faster, their hearts were racing. They ran around the building and pressed themselves against the cool wall.

"What should we do now?" Rapunzel whispered. Eugene shrugged and listened to the sound of loud steps which the brothers caused. Of course the brothers had already noticed that they had tricked them.

"We have to get away from here!" Rapunzel said urgently. She didn't even want to think about what would happen if they got caught.

Eugene nodded. "I know," he whispered, still listening to the steps of their pursuers . It didn't sound as if they were anywhere close, but that could change quickly. "But how can we get away without being seen? They're closer to the gate than we are."

Rapunzel looked around the corner for a second. Eugene was right, his hearing hadn't tricked him. If they left their hiding spot now, they would be doomed.

"Rider, Princess, come out! You don't have a chance, anyway!"

Eugene frantically looked around, even dared to sneak around the corner of the chapel. The walls around the cemetery were too high to climb over or even try to do so.

He knew there was only one possibility. And Rapunzel knew so, too. He went back to her and - at the same time - they looked into each others faces and said: "I'll distract them." Both of their serious expressions turned into surprise.

If the situation wasn't that dangerous, they would have laughed. But then they simply stared at each other, torn between determination and pleading.

"Eugene, you can't do that! I don't wanna lose you again!" Rapunzel badly wanted to be safely at home, but she would gladly risk her freedom to save Eugene's life. She hated being locked in, but she preferred that to a dead Eugene. "They would kill you, but not me."

Eugene tried to smile confidently. "I won't die because they won't get close enough to me. I'm faster than them, believe me. Think about your parents. They waited eighteen lonely years for you. I don't want them to suffer more."

Rapunzel looked at him with sadness evident in her eyes. She didn't hadn't even thought about them in the whole chaos. Her poor parents…they loved her so much. She didn't want them to suffer more, either. But on the other hand, she would endanger Eugene, whom she didn't want to lose…

Eugene noticed that she had no idea what to do. He looked at her with a sympathetic glance, but suddenly his head snapped up. The Stabbington brothers came closer. He put his hands on Rapunzel's shoulders and placed a kiss on her forehead. She looked at him.

"They're coming closer. I'll distract them and you run away. Get the guards, Max, somebody. I'll come after you as soon as I can. Don't worry."

Rapunzel grabbed his arm. "Please don't do that. I'll do it."

Eugene shook his head. "No. You saved my life, now I'll save yours. Wait until they focus on me, and then run."He wanted to get up, but she refused to let go of his arm. Gently, he loosened her grab, held her hand for a moment, and ran away before Rapunzel could do anything about it.

"Eugene," she whispered. Why did he have to get his way again? Firstly in the tower, now here. If they got out of this alive, she would have to talk with him about this attitude.

Full of fear, she watched Eugene running away. The Stabbington brothers soon took notice of his attempt to flee. The drew out their swords and pursued him, just as he had planned.

Rapunzel didn't hesitate too long. She picked up her skirts and started running as fast as she could. Every once in a while, she turned back to make sure Eugene was okay and no one was following her.

Without getting noticed by the Stabbington Brothers, she reached the gate and was soon on the outside of the cemetery. Leaning against the stone wall, she let out the air she'd been holding the whole time. But when she peeked around the corner to see if Eugene was fine, she gasped in horror.

Eugene had been wrong. The brothers had been fast enough to catch up with him. Rapunzel had no idea how they had managed to do so, but she had no time to ponder about that. Torn inwardly, she stood there by the gate, biting her lip. There had to be something she could do! Eugene would die if she didn't help him! But how?

One of the brothers pressed Eugene to the ground with his face down, the other one stood up and looked around. Eugene turned his head to the side to be able to breathe.

The standing one sheathed his sword and pulled a small knife out of his pocket. "You have the choice, princess," he shouted so she could hear him perfectly clear. "Either you come here and your beloved thief will survive this, or you simply run away." He smiled evilly. "In this case, Rider will die."

"Fitzherbert," Eugene mumbled. But then, he got back to what was really important. "Rapunzel, don't! Run away!" he cried as loud as he could. But that wasn't really loud since he could hardly breathe. Rapunzel could hear him, though.

Of course, Rapunzel didn't do what he said. Without hesitating, she went back to the three lonely figures. It was the only thing she could do. But the closer she came, the heavier her feet seemed to get. Eugene's desperate, pleading eyes were more than she could bear. But after he got his way of saving her in the tower, it was her turn now.

The Stabbingtons brothers grinned triumphantly. Sideburns handed Eye-patch the knife and walked over to Rapunzel. She didn't protest when he roughly grabbed her arm and dragged her with him. She was too afraid they would hurt Eugene if she did.

Eye-patch stood up and violently forced Eugene to do so, too, holding the former thief's hands behind his back. But before Eugene could even dare to move, he felt the cold metal of the knife near his throat. Rapunzel gasped.

"But you said you wouldn't kill him," she exclaimed. Eugene rolled his eyes.

"Darling, these two are criminals. Criminals don't play fair."

Rapunzel lowered her head. She should have known that. But she had no intention to give up. There had to be a way to avoid anyone's death.

"Well, I suppose we should first get rid of this witness," Sideburns said and nodded in Eyepatch's directions. Rapunzel thought quickly.

"_No!_ He is my fiancé, my parents would pay ransom for him, too," she cried without thinking about the consequences. Pure despair urged her to act like that. But it worked. Eye-patch loosened his grip around the knife a little and looked at his brother, who in turn looked at Rapunzel.

"She's right. If he is allowed to marry her, her family must have accepted him as a family member. You seem to be lucky, Rider."

Eugene gave Rapunzel a glance that was thankful and desperate at the same time. He was more than thankful that she had saved his life –again!- but she would ruin the whole kingdom just because of him.

Eye-patch lowered the knife. That was the moment Rapunzel had waited for. She raised one of her feet, on which she, as always, wore high heels, and stomped on the foot of her enemy as hard as she could. Sideburns was so surprised and in pain for a moment that he let go of Rapunzel's arm. Eugene had watched her and did the same. Together, the two of them ran away.

But they didn't get to run far away. The Stabbington brothers recovered quickly and followed their ´prey`. Eugene noticed they would catch up to them soon and decided to get in their way so Rapunzel could flee.

But sadly, his chances hadn't increased since their last fight. It didn't take them long to knock Eugene down, no matter how much he tried to beat them. Rapunzel froze in shock when she saw Eugene lying on the ground, motionlessly. Had they killed him?

Their two enemies used the time in which she was frozen to ran over to her and grab her arms. Their grip was so firm that Rapunzel let out a pained scream. But her whole attention was focused on Eugene. They just let him lay there. Did that mean he was really dead?

Just moments later, everything went black.


End file.
